Fórsa and other health unions have written to the HSE and health department seeking immediate engagement on concerns about how the Covid bonus payment is to be made, including qualifying and appeals criteria.

An official circular has issued by management on the payment, which has been promised to healthcare workers in recognition of their work in ‘Covid-exposed environments’ at the height of the pandemic.

But unions say the qualifying period of work covered by the circular – 1st March 2020 to 30th June 2021 – has not been agreed.

They have told the department that health staff who worked after June 2021 faced further waves of Covid-19 infection in the months that followed.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly has said the bonus, which will range from €600 to €1,000, will be paid "as soon as possible to those who are confirmed as eligible, subject to local processes." He said the payment will be paid to eligible frontline healthcare workers in their next available payroll.

Unions had met with officials from both the department and the HSE on several occasions in recent weeks to clarify who would qualify for payment.

They now want the department and the HSE to address the payment of the pandemic recognition payment to individuals employed in section 39 agencies and in the private sector.

Concerns have also been raised about individuals who worked beyond their contracted hours for sustained periods. Unions say these workers should receive payment to reflect their actual hours at work during the pandemic period.

Fórsa’s head of health and welfare, Éamonn Donnelly, said the employer needed to ensure equity and fairness in its approach to making the payment.

“While the payment is a welcome acknowledgement of the work of our members through one of the most challenging periods in our health service’s history, it would be a serious error of judgement on behalf of the department, the HSE and the Government to overlook those workers on the frontline in community, voluntary and private employment who did so much to meet the Covid-19 onslaught, and who continued to do so beyond June 2021.

“My sense is that this circular has been rushed, probably due to a certain amount of political pressure. With an initiative like this, you only get one chance to do it right, and to do it fairly.

“On that basis, the unions will continue to press their case to ensure everyone who should receive this payment does so. We will make full use of the appeals period in which to do so, but an immediate engagement to resolve these questions would offset any need to end up in an avoidable dispute,” he said.

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