Skellig Michael’s re-opening to visitors next month may be delayed if an industrial dispute is not resolved.
As The Sunday Independent reports, the UNESCO world heritage island site is due to open for the 2023 season on May 13th.
However, a dispute over withdrawal of an offshore allowance for staff has been referred to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The “country allowance” was paid during the summer season by the Office of Public Works (OPW), which manages Skellig Michael 12 km west of Kerry’s Iveragh peninsula.
The subsistence of 181.69 euro a week was an additional tax-free payment to compensate staff living away from home in shared temporary accommodation with no running water during the 25-week visitor season.
Guides and maintenance staff were informed that the Revenue Commissioners believed the “country allowance” did not comply with tax rules as they were not away from their “ base of operations”, as in Skellig Michael.
The OPW said that it is “currently engaged with SIPTU in the WRC in relation to a matter involving OPW employees assigned to Sceilg Mhichíl”.
“As the process is ongoing and we are continuing to explore options with SIPTU, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this point,”an OPW spokeswoman said.
Siptu industrial organiser Jay Power said that the union was “proactively looking to resolve the situation” over the allowance, and said he was “hopeful” that the opening would not be delayed.
“We have put proposals to the OPW to resolve the situation in the interim,” he said.
Skellig Michael was recently announced as one of ten global sites participating in a climate change adaptation project, entitled “Preserving Legacies”, funded by the National Geographic Society and Manulife.
Read more in The Sunday Independent here