Special recognition payment delay criticised
by Mehak Dugal
 
The head of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare Division, Ashley Connolly, said it was unacceptable that health staff had to wait for so long to receive their payment.
The head of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare Division, Ashley Connolly, said it was unacceptable that health staff had to wait for so long to receive their payment.

Fórsa, and other health unions are seeking an urgent meeting with the health department to address the failure to pay the pandemic special recognition payment to staff in section 39 agencies, the children’s agency Tusla and other areas.

 

The union says that, while department has confirmed that the scheme will cover these organisations, it has failed to provide the necessary clarity.

 

Fórsa has criticised the lack of clarity in the process for qualification for the payment as well as delays in awarding the recognition bonus to private nursing home staff, healthcare assistants and many others who worked on the frontline at the height of the pandemic.

 

In June, RTÉ reported just one-in-eight health service workers eligible for the €1,000 Covid-19 pandemic bonus had been paid the money. The Government announced the scheme in January.

 

The head of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare Division, Ashley Connolly, said it was unacceptable that health staff had to wait for so long to receive their payment.

 

“Our members stepped up and put themselves on the frontlines of risk at the most uncertain time for this country. Now when it is time to honour that effort, the delays and uncertainty around qualification are unnecessary and inexplainable. These people risked their own lives at a time when there was no vaccine and inadequate PPE, and to be excluded now from the recognition bonus is just unfair.”

 

“We are just asking the Government to live up to its promise and make the payment as a matter of priority,” she said.

 

The union said a timeline on the rollout of the payment and clarity on the process is urgently needed, to award some certainty to staff due to receive it and alleviate unnecessary worry.

 

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