Talks seek to resolve health data row

TALKS ARE to get under way at the Labour Relations Commissions (LRC) today to resolve a row between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the trade union Impact over the ban on the provision of key financial and activity data as part of an ongoing campaign of industrial action.

The Irish Timesrevealed yesterday that the HSE was considering removing staff from the payroll if the industrial action over pay cuts, which has been under way for about three months, does not end soon.

HSE management told the board of the organisation last week that the data concerned was "mission critical". It said effectively that it did not know precisely how its €14 billion budget was being spent and whether the €400 million in savings required for this year were being achieved.

The introduction of disciplinary action against health service staff by management could seriously escalate the industrial action and have significant implications for the future of the proposed new deal on public service pay and reform.

Last night, Impact national secretary Kevin Callinan said that the union was in the process of seeking clarification on aspects of the proposed new public service reform deal, which was negotiated at Croke Park last month.

He said that while this process was under way it would be unrealistic to expect the union to ease its industrial action or provide a derogation on the financial data until it received satisfactory clarification.

Mr Callinan described the HSE action as "unhelpful" and said the union would respond effectively to defend its members if disciplinary action were pursued .

In a confidential report to the HSE board last Friday, management recommended that staff who were not carrying out their core duties to collect, collate and transmit the necessary data could be given 48 hours to confirm their intention to comply or else be given seven days' notice of being taken off the payroll.