Residential care workers and supervising staff at the Oberstown youth detention centre are balloting on a set of proposals tabled at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) aimed at resolving a dispute over poor safety measures and increasing assaults on the campus.

Planned industrial action, a series of four-hour stoppages planned for each Tuesday in June, has been suspended.

Ballot papers are circulating to IMPACT members at Oberstown today (Monday 13^th June) and the ballot closes at 1pm this Friday (17^th June).

The dispute emerged against the background of a high and growing number of attacks on staff since the expansion of the State’s only youth detention centre to facilitate the transfer of offenders from the prison service. SIPTU and IMPACT say staff and residents are exposed to daily risk of violent assault.

The Oberstown campus currently caters for 48 under-18s, including a mix of vulnerable young offenders and violent criminals with multiple convictions for serious offences. The most recent official figures revealed over 100 violent incidents in Oberstown last year, almost half of which were classed as ‘critical’. Critical assaults and injuries necessitated a total of 3,005 employee sick days, involving 65 staff members.