Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
88. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Health the steps that he has taken to ensure that an organisation (details supplied) is granted the pay parity with their laboratory colleagues that they have been seeking for 21 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37645/22]
View answer92. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the progress that has been made in talks with laboratory workers who are members of an organisation (details supplied) to resolve their dispute; if he will be seeking additional funding to deal with historic issues of pay and conditions amongst these workers; the current number of vacancies among these grades in the health service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37685/22]
View answerWe saw during Covid-19, which is ongoing, the importance of laboratory scientists. A number of months ago those same laboratory scientists had to go on strike in relation to pay parity. What steps is the Minister taking to resolve this issue?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 92 together.
I thank Deputy Kenny for raising the issue. Like the Deputy, I respect and acknowledge the huge work the medical scientists have done and continue to do. Following the strike action on 18 May and 24 May, health management and the MLSA attended an exploratory engagement at the Labour Court on 25 May for the court to establish whether or how it might assist the parties in finding a resolution to the matters in dispute. Following engagement at the Labour Court, the parties agreed to reconvene at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, for a final engagement process. This process took place over a three-week period. Parties agreed that any outstanding issues which could not be resolved through the WRC process would be referred to the Labour Court for a final recommendation. During these talks an agreement was reached on a process to assess a claim it has had for 20 years. They have been looking for a resolution to this for 20 years.
As the Deputy will appreciate, because this is an ongoing industrial relations process, it would be inappropriate to discuss the funding of any outcomes that are yet to be determined. It is positive that the MLSA agreed to lift its strike action and that parties reached agreement on a process to assess the claim. I acknowledge the recruitment challenges in relation to medical scientists. The HSE aims to recruit 160 new medical scientist roles in 2022 and in each subsequent year. We are investing in and expanding this really important professional group. A recruitment campaign is planned along with other initiatives to address the various challenges that have been raised.
I welcome the fact a settlement may be possible in regard to the ongoing discussions. These laboratory scientists have waited for more than 20 years for pay parity. Some of their colleagues doing similar work have been paid about 8% more than them. They were very patient indeed. The strike was hugely popular, publicly. Obviously the laboratory scientists did not want to be on strike. They were compelled to go on strike because of that issue around equal pay for equal work. It is important that not only the pay issue is resolved but that so too are other issues to which I will allude in a supplementary question.
There were various parts to this. An assessment was done in regard to the grade and the following year that was changed as part of benchmarking which led to one of the anomalies. Another anomaly relates to medical laboratory aids. The medical laboratory aids were uplifted from band 2 to band 1 under a job evaluation scheme. This led to an anomaly whereby they were paid more than medical scientists in year 1, even though they are on a different level. In year 2 the anomaly rectifies itself. The medical scientists earn considerably more at every point of the scale thereafter. However, it is just one example of an anomaly which has caused real frustration and needs to be addressed as part of the ongoing discussions.
Hopefully, this anomaly can be resolved. The workers have been waiting a considerable amount of time. Another issue the laboratory scientists have touched on relates to vacant posts in the profession.
They said one in five posts are vacant. That is obviously worrying in the context of qualified staff such as those. Hopefully, those posts can be filled.
The Minister cannot predict what could happen with regard to the WRC talks, but they sound positive. Hopefully, the matter will be resolved and some of these posts will be filled as soon as possible. As we saw during the pandemic, front-line staff such as laboratory scientists are crucial. In fact, the Minister will have seen that when they went on strike.
There is a pressing need to hire a substantial number of additional medical scientists. The workforce stands at a little over 2,100 whole-time equivalents. However, the HSE has done an analysis of the numbers that need to be hired and projected a requirement to recruit nearly 400 this year because many replacement posts need to be filled. The HSE is estimating a need to hire 400 this year and 160 every year after that. The chief clinical officer, Dr. Henry, is leading a piece of work looking at the future direction of this. As we invest more in technologies as genetics and the various scientific disciplines come more to the fore, we will need to build out and continue to invest in the profession and in this workforce.
