Vol. 476 No. 7
23 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Health the progress, if any, which has been made in resolving the dispute in the Eastern Health Board which has stopped the inspection of food outlets, nursing homes and restaurants by environmental health officers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8131/97]
99 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Health the current position in relation to the ongoing dispute involving environmental health officers; the steps, if any being taken to resolve this long-standing issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8573/97]
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.
