Protest takes place outside Limerick hospitals
A LUNCHTIME protest took place outside hospitals in Limerick this Wednesday.
More than 60 clerical and administration workers went to the gate of University Hospital Limerick in Dooradoyle, while a demonstration was also held outside St Joseph's Hospital at Mulgrave Street in the city centre.
Further action will take place at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals this Thursday.
The staff, who are members of the Fórsa trade union, are continuing an ongoing campaign in protest at a recruitment freeze on certain posts within the HSE.
Fórsa says the unilateral hiring pause is a breach of its collective agreements with the HSE.
Members voted overwhelmingly in support of the industrial action in a ballot earlier this year.
It was suspended for a number of weeks in the autumn to allow for engagement with management, but a breakdown in those discussions in early October led to the resumption of the campaign.
Local Fórsa representative Seamus Hourigan said: "In recent weeks, HSE has halted all recruitment as the health service enters the challenging mid-winter period. At this time, the health service needs to be fully staffed not understaffed. Fórsa's position is that clerical and admin staff in the HSE are not responsible for budget overrun."
"As we enter the mid-winter season, many posts remain unfilled which will mean pressure building up at points of delivery throughout our health service. The HSE must fulfil vital positions now before health services are irreversibly affected," he added.
In a statement, the HSE said it regrets the industrial action.
"Throughout the strike action we will continue to conduct risk assessments to monitor any likely impacts to services. Derogations will be sought through our dialogue with Forsa, to ensure the protection of services, and to ensure that there is no risk to patients or emergencies throughout this dispute," they added.
On the staffing pause, a health service spokesperson said: "The government has made it clear that we must not recruit beyond our agreed target. Conscious of this and of the pace of recruitment this year, in recent months we put in place controls in relation to the recruitment of management and administration staff."