17/02/2025 Comments are off SIPTU Health Admin
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Home support care services threatened Dun Laoghaire as company goes into liquidation

SIPTU has warned that the future of home support care in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, is in doubt following the confirmation that Dun Laoghaire Home Care Services (DLHCS) confirmed to the Union that it ceased providing care to clients on Tuesday, 11th February.

Dun Laoghaire Home Care Services provides home support packages to clients under a Section 39 agreement on behalf of the State.

SIPTU Organiser, Anne Rochford, said: “Our members have been advised by the board of DLHCS that the company is to cease trading on 28th February. This is despite the fact that SIPTU made a referral to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in December 2024 for conciliation to discuss the future of the service. DLHCS has, to date, refused to attend the WRC to discuss the future of the service and the impact of the decision to close the service on the workforce.

“Our members are seeking an engagement at the WRC so they can have absolute clarity on the future of the service and assurances that all avenues have been explored to secure alternative employment for the workforce. The employer has, to date, refused to attend the WRC.”

Rochford added: “We have engaged with the HSE to clarify if it will provide any role in the provision of home support services in the area into the future and we are yet to receive any clarity on this. The lack of clarity is creating real anxiety among the workforce of DLHCS. We are calling for an urgent engagement on the future of this service to include SIPTU, DLHCS and the HSE.”

07/02/2025 Comments are off SIPTU Health Admin
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Disability care workers’ pay left short as voluntary providers fail to increase sleepover rates

SIPTU has condemned the failure of publicly funded disability providers to increase pay, in line with National Minimum Wage (NMW) increases, for workers in disability services who carry out sleepover shifts.

This failure is leaving frontline disability workers out of pocket, with many affected staff earnings reduced by more than €600 in earnings for 2024.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Sharon Cregan, said: “Sleepover shifts require workers to remain on-site overnight, ensuring that essential care and support is available should a person being supported need assistance. In 2014, the Labour Court ruled that sleepover shifts constitute working time and must be paid at a rate of at least the National Minimum Wage. Since then, the HSE has provided funding to voluntary disability providers to ensure compliance with this ruling.”

However, SIPTU has been made aware that several voluntary disability providers have failed to apply the 2024 and 2025 minimum wage increases for staff for sleepover shifts. Some providers are claiming that the HSE has not allocated the necessary funding.

Cregan added: “It is completely unacceptable that disability workers are left in limbo due to this dispute regarding funding between the funder and the providers. Care Assistants working in disability services (CAIDs) rely on these payments, and with a basic starting salary of less than €33,000 per year, every euro counts. Additional payments and premium rates are a crucial part of their income, and any delay or failure to apply wage increases has a real financial impact on these essential workers.”

SIPTU representatives have written to the HSE seeking clarity regarding the funding and are engaging with the voluntary providers as employers seeking that the increases and retrospective payments be made without delay.

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