Minister for Health Mary Harney has said that the reduction of the working week for various groups in the public sector will only be considered if it can be achieved at no additional cost to the taxpayer and without any diminution in services to the public.
A number of groups, including gardaí and health sector staff, have indicated that they will seek a reduction in hours following the agreement in principle by the Government to introduce a 37.5-hour week for nurses from June 2008.
Yesterday, Impact trade union mpact signalled it would also look at the working week for care workers which it represents.
Speaking to reporters at Impact's biennial health and welfare conference in Portlaoise, Ms Harney said the National Implementation Body (NIB) recommendation - which provided a breakthrough in the seven-week nurses' dispute - involved a reduction of the working week by an hour and a half on a cost-neutral basis and with no reduction in services.
"That is going to be a challenge and equally that challenge will be there for any other group as well," she said.
"From the Government's perspective, if people can be more productive and produce the same in less hours, then we do not have a problem with that. But the reality is that it has to be done on a cost-neutral basis. It cannot be achieved at additional cost to the taxpayer or at reduced services to the public," she said.
In an address to the conference, Impact national secretary Kevin Callinan said it would be "giving early attention to the fact that care assistants work a 39-hour week".
As part of the NIB proposals, nurses would see their working week reduced from 39 to 37.5 hours from June next year, while a commission would be established to determine how the health sector could move to cut this further to a 35-hour week.
In his address, Mr Callinan made a number of veiled comments about the nurses' dispute.
"There has been a lot of talk about expanded roles lately. I want to put it on record that the role of every health professional has expanded in recent years and is continuing to expand. In a complex multi-professional health system, it is simply not possible to focus on one profession in isolation. Everyone is upskilling and expanding roles," he said.
In their campaign, the nursing unions highlighted a pay anomaly that saw some nurses paid less than care workers who reported to them. Mr Callinan said care workers were victims of "deeply insulting and misinformed criticism during the dispute".
"These people do an extremely difficult and sometimes dangerous job - often with the most deprived, disturbed and challenging young people. It is a vital job in residential care and secure units, which most people in our newly prosperous society would never choose to do," he said.
Mr Callinan said for years care workers were paid a pittance and that when proper pay scales were secured, it was linked to stringent qualification requirements.
"This union chose not to intervene in the debate when another union was in dispute. But I have to say, Minister, it was a shame that nobody on the management side felt willing to tell the public the facts about the efforts of these dedicated professionals," he said.
