Industrial action hits crucial welfare support

CRUCIAL welfare support for people living in Cork and Kerry has had to be curtailed because of industrial action by community welfare officers.

dispute began on Thursday and, according to IMPACT trade union which represents the workers, is over the non-replacement of staff, leaving less workers to deal with more claims.

The union said that since last year seven posts have been lost in Cork and four in Kerry and while the HSE had promised in February to replace 6.5 whole-time equivalent posts, that had not happened. They said they were having to prioritise services because their workloads were mounting.