Labour Court recommends 15-mile threshold for Central Fisheries Board subsistence allowance

The Labour Court recommended reducing the qualifying distance for day subsistence allowance from 20 miles to 15 miles for Central Fisheries Board field grades. The recommendation was dated 10 December 2001 and followed a request by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union to reduce the threshold to five miles. The union said fishery officers could not return to base for meal breaks and cited five-mile limits for other field grades. Management disputed those comparisons, said the existing annual cost was £150K (€190460.71) and estimated that the proposed change could add £380K (€482500.46). It offered to explore cost-neutral options. The Court said the parties had understood differently whether cooperation on the Wild Salmon Tagging Scheme would affect the allowance claim, and recommended further talks on offsetting measures.