Nurses in a Kerry Gaeltacht are seeking payment of a 7.5 per cent allowance, worth about €3,400 a year, for being able to speak in Irish to patients in the Dingle District Hospital.
The Irish Nurses Organisation says there are 22 nurses working in the hospital, 16 of whom are native Irish speakers, and there are 42 patients, of whom 28 count Irish as their first language.
The hospital cares for convalescent, palliative care and respite patients and a new 72-bed community hospital is being built to replace it.
The Labour Court said nurses working in the hospital are required to have an adequate knowledge of Irish in order to be able to converse with mainly elderly patients from Gaeltacht areas, but they are not paid a Gaeltacht allowance, unlike other public sector employees.
No agreement could be reached on the claim at local level and it went to a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, where the sides remained deadlocked.
The matter went to a full Labour Court hearing last month and a finding that has just become available says the issue should be examined at a national level.
If no agreement emerges from this examination, Labour Court deputy chairman Raymond McGee said both sides should come back to the court by June 30th for a "definitive recommendation".
26m plan for Kerry council HQ
Plans have been drawn up for a €26.25 million extension to the headquarters of Kerry County Council. The new accommodation will take up to five years to build.
However, councillors have questioned the cost of the 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) extension, saying they believe it should be significantly less, and management has agreed to provide a more detailed breakdown of costs.
Greens oppose radioactive dump Galway Green councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin has called on the HSE to rethink the proposed location of a radioactive waste dump adjacent to the back walls of residents of Newcastle Park in Galway city.
"Local residents are rightly upset with the HSE in relation to their plans to store radioactive waste in the old pumphouse, literally a stone's throw from their back walls," said Cllr Ó Brolcháin.
"They are particularly concerned that the National Crime Prevention Office is involved in consultations in relation to security on the site," he said.
"Residents have frequently complained of black smoke pouring out of an old chimney on the site and now the HSE is planning to site a radioactive waste dump right beside it," Cllr Ó Brolcháin added.
Man faces child porn charges
A Westmeath man has gone on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on child pornography charges.
Victor Fagg (36) of Cornamagh, Athlone, has pleaded not guilty to possessing the pornographic material at his former address at Crestfield Close, Whitehall, in Dublin, and in Room 117 of DCU Physics Block, Dublin City University on April 19th, 2005.
Garda Tony Brehan told prosecuting counsel, Paul Carroll BL, that he found images of child pornography on a computer, two computer hard-drives, five CD-roms and two CD-rom cases in Mr Fagg's bedroom at the premises in Whitehall.
Garda Brehan said Mr Fagg brought the search team to his former office in DCU, where he opened a cabinet containing 14 CD-roms, two DVDs and a home-built computer with images of child pornography.
The trial is continuing.