Union criticises HSE's refusal to pay wage rises to taskforce staff

DRUGS TASKFORCE staff in west Dublin whose positions are funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE) are being paid less than their colleagues because of the refusal of the authority to pay benchmarking increases, the trade union Impact has said.

It accused the HSE of ignoring a 2005 Labour Court recommendation that staff in HSE-funded positions in drug services in Clondalkin should be paid the same as their co-workers who are paid through other sources.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said it was responsible for funding the services but not the specific positions.

Staff in the Clondalkin drugs taskforce have been engaged in a work-to-rule since the beginning of this month in protest over the failure to implement benchmarking increases.

Staff doing the same work but whose positions are funded by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs have been paid the increases, putting their salaries at between 8.5 per cent to 10 per cent above HSE-funded workers, the union said.

"The HSE have refused to discuss the issue despite a commitment from the Department of Finance to provide the required funding," Tim Costigan of the Clondalkin drugs taskforce said.

Under the work-to-rule, staff, including counsellors, outreach officers and programme managers, are refusing to work overtime, operate out of hours and weekend services, or cover colleague absences. An out-of-hours methadone programme is exempt from the action.

"The HSE's failure to act on this issue has compromised our capacity to respond effectively to very serious drug problems within the community," Mr Costigan said.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said it funded the drugs taskforce not the specific jobs.

"That Labour Court finding was made against the employers which in this case is not the HSE," she said.