Conciliation talks to resolve a row over staffing that has led to a three-month delay in the opening of a new €15m psychiatric unit at Cork University Hospital (CUH) are under way at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

The HSE has written to a mental health nurse it put off duty for speaking to the media, clearing him for a return to work.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association has said it will not take part in talks designed to defuse a row over the opening of a psychiatric facility unless a nurse put off duty for airing his concerns in the media is allowed return to work.

A nurse motivated by his desire for patient safety has been placed off duty, writes Catherine Shanahan