Probation officers are to meet today to consider settlement proposals to their dispute over pay and staffing levels.
Representatives of IMPACT and the Department of Justice met for over six hours yesterday on staff grievances in the probation and welfare service.
Later, IMPACT's assistant general secretary, Mr Peter Nolan, said significant progress had been made. The Department had proposed improved staffing levels and higher pay rates for new entrants, which will be discussed by the probation officers' branch executive today.
Higher starting salaries were an integral part of the staffing dispute, Mr Nolan said. Current pay rates range from £15,000 to £30,000 over a 20-year scale. It was impossible to attract new recruits, who could earn £5,000 a year more in comparable public service jobs.
Mr Nolan said the work to rule would continue in the meantime. No probation officers attended courts yesterday and they began referring back cases to supervisors.