Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 99 together. IMPACT, on behalf of environmental health officers, withdrew from negotiations which were being pursued under Clause 2 (iii) — Annex 1 of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work and pursued industrial action in the form of a“work-to-rule” with effect from 15 January 1996.
Efforts to resolve the impasse continued on an informal basis culminating in a formal meeting under the auspices of the Local Government Staff Negotiations Board on 25 June 1996. On Wednesday, 26 June 1996 I met with IMPACT and a delegation of environmental health officers to explore whether or not the provision of the joint Government/ICTU statement of 15 May 1996 could usefully be applied to resolving the current impasse in the negotiations.
On 5 July 1996, with the assistance of a facilitator from the Labour Relations Commission, an informal meeting took place between management and the union. The meeting was of considerable assistance to both sides and as a result negotiations continued up until quite recently when IMPACT took the decision to escalate the work-to-rule.