Relocation of motor tax office deferred in payment row

A TEMPORARY transfer of civil servants from one of the country’s busiest motor tax offices has been deferred in a row over relocation payments.

Cork County Council and the trade union Impact have agreed to a joint referral of the issues at the centre of the row to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

Both sides were last night still waiting for a hearing date from the LRC.

As a result, the council has deferred the planned move of the staff from the dated Farranlea Road motor tax office on the County Hall campus, to temporary offices on Model Farm Road, less than two miles away.

The move was due to have been completed by mid-January.

But details of the row became public last November when Cork’s county manager, Martin Riordan, refused to sanction relocation payments being sought by Impact for the staff involved.

The council wants the staff to move from Farranlea Road to the Model Farm Road complex while new office accommodation is built on the County Hall campus.

Impact lodged a claim last July for subsistence payments for each of the staff members affected.

It sought €16.95 per day for each staff member for a period of six months. The total bill would have been just over €148,000.

Negotiations with the council’s human resources and finance departments had reached an advanced and detailed stage by last November.

Despite former county manager Maurice Maloney sanctioning relocation payments for hundreds of council staff who moved out of County Hall in 2001 during its multi-million revamp, Mr Riordan signalled that he would not sanction this current claim.

As a result, the majority of the 73 staff members voted to withdraw their co-operation with the move unless the payments issue was resolved.

Staff also threatened to strike, fuelling fears that the city and county’s motor tax renewal system could be thrown into chaos.

The staff have, however, agreed to continue operating the motor tax service from Farranlea Road pending the LRC hearing.

Impact last night welcomed the moves to engage with the LRC.

A council spokesman said no date has been set for the transfer pending the outcome of the process.

He also urged motorists who receive motor tax renewal notices in the coming weeks to use the online renewal system motoronline.ie or the postal system, which has a three-day turnaround.