More talks on refugee centre today

Talks will resume this afternoon to resolve the crisis over staffing and services in the State's "one-stop shop" for asylum-seekers…

Talks will resume this afternoon to resolve the crisis over staffing and services in the State's "one-stop shop" for asylum-seekers and refugees in Dublin. Talks were adjourned at midnight.

The talks centred on union demands for more permanent staff at the Refugee Application Centre and an additional premises to deal with the recent large increase in immigrants. Negotiations hosted by the Labour Relations Commission broke up inconclusively close to midnight on Tuesday after almost nine hours and resumed at noon yesterday.

The centre in Mount Street was closed temporarily earlier this month amid staff fears that the number of applicants was too great to cope with safely.

Unions and management subsequently agreed that the number of community welfare officers at the centre would be increased, and that steps would be taken to ease the workload of the staff. The unions later accused management on failing to honour commitments made in the talks.

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The centre is managed by the EHB, which was involved in last night's talks along with officials from the Health Services Employers' Agency, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, and representatives from IMPACT and SIPTU.