Labour Court recommends UCC seek approval for acting nursing director's position

The Labour Court recommended that University College Cork seek ministerial approval to apply HSE HR Circular 017/2013 to the claimant, who had served as Acting Director of Nursing at Cork Dental School and Hospital since 2006. The recommendation was signed on 5 December 2014. The Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation sought regularisation of the acting position, arguing that the circular applied and that the claimant's pay was already at the permanent post's maximum scale point. University College Cork said a permanent appointment required an advertised competitive process under the governing legislation. The Court said the university had previously obtained ministerial approval to apply HSE circulars to the claimant and considered Circular 017/2013 applicable to her. It recommended seeking approval to apply that circular in the same way as earlier HSE circulars.