LCR23177

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral under section 26 (1) of the Industrial Relations Act. 1990.

BACKGROUND:

This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 05 June 2025 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.

 A Labour Court hearing took place on 11 September 2025.

RECOMMENDATION:

This dispute concerns a claim for the provision of time-off-in-lieu (TOIL) or overtime payments for on-call hours worked in excess of contractual hours by nurses in the Interventional Radiology (IR) Department of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

In April 2021, the hospital was recognised as the National Trauma Centre and serves as the primary hospital for treating victims of life-threatening injuries. Following local engagements a pilot on-call /out of hours service commenced in July 2023 whereby nurses provide extended cover for evenings and weekends. As part of the pilot, nurses are paid an on-call standby payment. A call-out payment applies when nurses are called out. 

The parties are in dispute about how on call arrangements, particularly the call-out provisions, should operate in the IR Department in a way that delivers the service required, while remunerating nurses fairly in a way that complies with nationally agreed circulars and arrangements in place in other comparable locations and work areas.

The hospital’s position is that the current pilot arrangement has operated successfully for two years and should be maintained. It contends that it is precluded from applying the option of TOIL and, in any event, it is not feasible nor viable to provide TOIL, given the structure and standalone nature of the IR Department. The union rejects that position and contends that, as the employer does not provide overtime for call-out hours, the only other option is to provide TOIL in addition to call-out rates, as is the standard practice across operating theatres nationally in line with national agreements. The workers have been operating the on-call service under protest pending resolution of this dispute

The Court has given careful consideration to the submissions made by both sides at the hearing.

Both parties acknowledge the requirement for on-call services within the IR Department and have engaged in good faith with a view to ensuring delivery of extended hours service for patients.

The Court is satisfied that there is merit to a position that the workers who are the subject of this dispute should receive a similar or equivalent benefit to other workers who work comparable on-call arrangements and receive benefits in line with relevant national circulars and arrangements in place in other comparable locations and work areas.

Both parties accept that the arrangements in place in the interventional radiology departments are particular to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and present specific challenges. 

Taking account of the particular circumstances of this case, the Court recommends that the parties engage without delay to address those specific challenges with a view to reaching agreement on the arrangements to apply to nurses in the IR Department. The engagement should take account of the circumstances of the workers, with particular regard to the call-out arrangements in place for comparable workers including in other work areas in the Mater, and the circumstances of the employer, having regard to the particular circumstances and specialist nature of the IR unit and the employer’s resourcing challenges.

The Court recommends that this engagement concludes by the end of November 2025, with the assistance of the Workplace Relation Commission, if necessary. If agreement cannot be reached the matter can be referred back to the Court.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
AL	______________________
25 September 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Ms Amy Leonard, Court Secretary.