Efforts to resolve museum dispute

EFFORTS TO resolve a row about rosters at the National Museum are expected to continue in a bid to ensure Collins Barracks and the Kildare Street sites in Dublin can open tomorrow.

The museum has said it will have to close on Easter Sunday because of unavailability of staff, but the Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU), which represents employees on the science and art attendants’ grade, has said staff are available to work.

The two centres open on a Sunday from 2pm to 5pm, and require 18 staff at Collins Barracks and six at Kildare Street.

Seamus Lynam, director of public services at the museum, said Easter Sunday was one of their busiest days. Under CPSU arrangements staff can work on a Sunday if they wish, with no requirement for them to meet the particular number of employees necessary for the museum to operate. If more than the required staff turn up, “we still have to pay them all”.

The museum had no control over staff levels on Sundays, and two weeks ago at Collins Barracks “only 11 of the necessary 18 staff turned up and we had to close half the museum”.

However, Kevin Gaughran of the CPSU insisted staff were available to work on Sunday. The union and the museum had been engaged in talks for four months to address a number of key issues including low pay and conditions.

On RTÉ radio's News at One, Mr Gaughran said he had written to Mr Lynam about a "cost- neutral" option to give staff time off in lieu on other days, but the museum's director of services said that had a cost.