Fórsa and other unions have continued their engagement with the Sisters of Charity after the religious order offered a once-off, ex-gratia payment of €3,000 to “qualifying employees” as a “gesture of goodwill.” The charity closed three care homes earlier this year, and refused to honour a Labour Court recommendation on fair redundancy terms.

Former staff at the agency staged protests in October as unions sought the implementation of the Labour Court ruling.

In a campaign update to members the group of unions advised members not to respond to the offer immediately. The deadline for responding was extended to 10^th December on foot of a union request. Fórsa, which welcomed the payment offer as a positive development, has sought further dialogue with management.

Fórsa official Seán McElhinney said the unions have told the Sisters of Charity that the proposal falls far short of the recommendation of the Labour Court, which recommended that workers receive payments consistent with the terms of public sector redundancies, “The Sisters of Charity has made a welcome offer but more is needed, and the HSE must come back to the table to play its part.

“The energetic and resilient campaign of our members has led to this unique opportunity within which we might now find a resolution to this protracted dispute.

“It is incumbent on all of us, in the context of a series of Labour Court recommendations, to find a resolution to this dispute, and we must do so before Christmas. Our members have suffered this uncertainty for too long,” he said.

Seán said talks with the HSE had lost momentum because of the slow pace of action by the health body. “We’ve written to the HSE, seeking that they urgently re-engage with a view to satisfying their obligations, as recommended by the Labour Court,” he said.

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