Labour Court recommends €1,500 annual payment for Teagasc Farm Foreman

The Labour Court recommended that Teagasc pay a personal allowance of €1,500 a year to the Farm Foreman at Johnstown Castle and that the parties agree a future grade for the post. The recommendation was dated 19 November 2002. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union said the worker earned €60 a week less than his predecessor and less than some staff he supervised. Teagasc argued that his duties matched those of a Farm Steward and had diminished. The Court was unconvinced by the arguments for the existing rate, noting that only one meeting had taken place since an earlier recommendation in 2000 and that the parties had made no progress. The personal payment was specific to the claimant and was not a precedent or a guideline for setting the post's future rate.