More than 140 former Irish Hospital Sweepstakes employees are seeking a meeting with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to pursue a Labour Court redundancy award made 12 years ago. A spokesman for the group, Mr John Slevin, says that about 30 other former employees of the company had died since the Sweepstakes was forced into liquidation in 1987 and time is running out for the remainder.
The 147 redundant workers, most of whom are now pensioners, are appealing to the Taoiseach for the State to pay the money because it was the Government that forced the company into liquidation to make way for the National Lottery. Some of them have up to 50 years' service and the average amount due then was £10,000.
Mr Slevin, who now works for Rehab Lotteries, is one of the younger members of the group. He says that most of his colleagues "were unceremoniously dumped on the scrapheap".
Sweepstake employees who took early retirement, and all of the company's creditors, received the amounts outstanding to them in full. It was only those workers retained to the end who received statutory entitlements only. Because they had endured pay freezes and short-time working for the previous 13 years, the statutory payments were worth between £2,000 and £4,000 in most cases.
After the sweepstakes closed they were supposed to receive two weeks' pay for each year of service, on top of their statutory redundancy. This was to be funded out of the sale of the lease on the company's site at Ballsbridge back to the Government.
The sale generated £1.4 million, or just enough to meet the Labour Court award. However, the Revenue Commissioners clawed back £700,000 in Capital Gains Tax and the redundancy arrangement collapsed. The Government subsequently sold the site for £6.6 million and received £400,000 in compensation from storm insurance for damage done to the buildings because of Hurricane Charlie in 1986.
Mr Slevin says that there are four Government departments responsible for various aspects of the Irish Sweepstakes operations or liquidation and that the surviving employees are "sick of going round in circles listening to civil service speak. This is not a normal redundancy situation.
"Mary Harney has indicated to us that she wants it done, but we need a decision from the major party in Government," Mr Slevin said. "Without getting Bertie across the table we'll keep going round in circles."