From next Monday the six months' backlog in forensic work on criminal cases is set to lengthen as technical and professional staff in the State laboratory refuse to take on new cases.
Their union, IMPACT, is seeking pay parity for forensic scientists with their colleagues in other State laboratories.
A union official, Mr Ray Ryan, said that even the existing informal arrangement to prioritise important cases would be put on hold.
However, if exceptional cases arose, such as that involving the death of two gardaí on the Stillorgan bypass in Dublin at the weekend, these would be looked at. He estimated they would not amount to more than 1 per cent of all cases.
The current backlog is due to understaffing, and the union says the dispute over pay should not be used as an excuse to delay the appointment of 17 extra technical and professional staff to the forensic laboratory, as recommended by independent consultants Deloitte & Touche last year.
A spokesman for the Deartment of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that the Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, had secured the extra posts, and that element of the dispute was now settled.
The crux of the issue now is pay, which is primarily a matter for the Department of Finance. The industrial action was originally planned for last month but was deferred to allow for "clarifications" from Finance on whether pay parity with other State scientists, such as those working in Teagasc laboratories, would be conceded in any new agreement to succeed the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The clarification talks failed.
Forensic scientists start at €23,769 a year and can earn up to €46,648 at the top of a 19-year scale. A minority who win promotion to higher grades earn between €43,600 and €62,138. Colleagues in other State laboratories earn between 4 per cent and 10 per cent more.
Mr Ryan accepts that pay awards may not be possible until the PPF expires, but says his members at least want assurances that the pay issue will be dealt with then. He adds: "The pay problem should not stop the Department taking on extra staff as quickly as possible. There is no justification for delay when we have a backlog of nearly 9,000 cases.
"The Government commissioned an independent report, which among other things recommended pay rises.