Industrial action at Oberstown Children Detention Campus to go ahead after talks break down

Industrial action at Oberstown Children Detention Campus in north Co Dublin will go ahead on Tuesday.Union members are due to take part in an eight-hour work stoppage, beginning at 9am and running until 5pm.The action is due to a continuing dispute over resourcing and safe staffing at the campus and is the second in a series of planned weekly work stoppages.Despite engagement between union negotiators and Oberstown management on Monday, they were unable to reach agreement on “key issues”, said trade union Fórsa in a statement. READ MOREThe union also expressed frustration that no representative from the Department of Children was present.The ongoing industrial action follows a ballot of Fórsa members, concluded in May, backing industrial action up to and including a full withdrawal of labour. Oberstown staff have been engaged in a work-to-rule action since June 25th. Oberstown management has been notified of further work stoppages on August 18th and August 25th.Hazel Nolan, national secretary of Fórsa, said safe staffing at Oberstown has been a “long-standing concern for staff, and our members are taking action because they want a lasting solution”.“We agree with management that staff safety and the safety of the young people in Oberstown are inseparable,” she said. “Unfortunately, talks have broken down because Oberstown is refusing to include key elements of our claim in the business case going to the department. This includes measures to address the recruitment difficulties facing the service. “Management says these issues should be dealt with separately through local bargaining, while also acknowledging that there is not enough money allocated to the local bargaining budget to resolve them.”Nolan added: “Fórsa cannot enter a process when we know from the outset that it cannot resolve the claim. Our members need a genuine, long-term solution to safe staffing, and that is what we will continue to pursue.”The Department of Children said €2.2 million in additional funding was provided in Budget 2026 for Oberstown to increase staffing levels, including funding for 11 additional whole-time equivalent staff posts. It said Oberstown has been successful in recruiting the majority of those extra staff despite “tight labour market conditions”.The department said it has hosted a weekly meeting with managers in Oberstown since March to monitor how the changes in the capacity mix in the centre are being implemented. “The well-being of the children and the staffing implications of the changes are considered as part of those discussions,” it said.“Oberstown management and Fórsa attended the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for conciliation services on two occasions in June, and on a further two occasions in July. “Officials from the Department of Children also attended the WRC on the two occasions in July, at the request of Oberstown management, but agreement was not reached.” The department said it was “disappointing that Forsa chose not to provide feedback on the latest proposal put forward by management under this forum and instead decided to escalate to work stoppages”. “Management have put in place contingency arrangements that are monitored closely to ensure that essential services continue and that standards of both care and safety are upheld to the fullest possible degree during the industrial action,” it said. “However, the work stoppages are having a negative impact on the care that can be provided to the children and are not in keeping with agreed dispute resolution processes.”It added that “a number of the issues” advanced by Fórsa “extend beyond staffing arrangements and concern broader terms and conditions of employment”.