TWO MORTICIANS attached to Kerry General Hospital and Kerry County Council are refusing to carry out work on State-ordered postmortems.
The morticians, based at Kerry General Hospital, have informed Kerry County Council they have serious issues over PRSI, the new universal social charge and other deductions from their pay.
Normally employed by the HSE, the morticians are paid by the council to carry out work to assist the State pathologists carrying out postmortems.
A council spokesman yesterday said the morticians had served strike notice and said they would not assist State pathologists until their concerns were met.
“We have checked with the Revenue Commissioners and they have confirmed that we must apply the deductions and the new charges,” spokesman Pádraig Corkery said.
The council also pays the county coroners.
John O’Connor, the head of finance at Kerry County Council, has repeatedly called for legislation to be changed so the council no longer had to foot the bill for coroners and morticians.
The county council was looking into arrangements yesterday to have postmortems carried out at Cork University Hospital.
It is understood there was at least one postmortem pending yesterday.