Around 200 Fórsa members at the HSE’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) have commenced a ballot for industrial action. The OCIO is the HSE office responsible for the delivery of technology to support and improve healthcare.

The ballot for action is a response to the lack of progress on reducing the number of agency workers and contractors in the organisation. The union has also raised concerns about management’s failure to adhere to recruitment and promotion processes and the outsourcing of functions previously delivered by HSE staff.

Fórsa official Ryan McKinney explained: “There has been a lack of serious engagement from management in the industrial relations process while at the same time the numbers of agency staff and reliance on outsourcing continues to increase.

“We raised our concerns throughout last year, and attempts to schedule meetings with management have been frustrated by that continuing lack of engagement. While we’re keen to resolve this through negotiation, we decided to seek a mandate from our members to take action if it proved necessary,” he said.

Ballot papers were issued to members in the OCIO at the end of last week and the ballot will close at noon on Friday 14th February.