It would cost the health service employers £35 million to meet the unions' £100-an-hour claim for staff to work over the New Year, the Labour Court has been told. It will cost another £15 million to pay bank holiday rates on New Year's Eve.
The figures are understood to have been presented by the Health Service Employers' Agency at a hearing to resolve the millennium pay dispute. The unions have rejected the HSEA estimates based on 20,000 of the 70,000 staff working or on call.
A health service alliance of unions representing doctors, nurses, porters, ambulance drivers, catering staff and craftworkers argued that management had failed to quantify the real numbers required. Employers were criticised for not making any counter-offer.
The Department of Finance is understood to have vetoed an offer, saying it would lead to follow-on claims from 150,000 other public service workers, including gardai, prison officers, fire-fighters, civil servants and local authority employees.
The health service unions have instructed members to provide normal bank holiday cover only if an agreement is not reached. The court is expected to issue a recommendation by Monday.
Millennium packages for essential services employees in the semi-state sector range from £250 to £800. Private nursing agencies have offered hospitals staff for £540 a shift on New Year's Eve and Day.
In the private sector, up to £2,000 has been agreed by the banks for millennium working. Bar staff are now thought unlikely to strike a deal. Their union, Mandate, says pubs are likely to be open between noon and 6 p.m. only on the two days.