Around 30 frontline staff at the Irish Blood Transfusion Service in Carlow will not receive a Covid-19 bonus payment following a decision by the Department of Health.
The Nationalist understands staff are “very disappointed” who feel they have been excluded even though they continued to work on the front line during Covid-19.
The decision by the department affects 434 Irish Blood Transfusion Services across the country and the organization had appealed to the health minister at a national level to reverse the decision stating it would have negatively impact staff morale as it a time when it was struggling to retain people.
The Department of Health refused to grant the bonus of €1,000 as it deemed that staff had not been exposed to Covid-19 because people with symptoms were told not to attend donation appointments, according to Irish Independent report.
However, The Nationalist understands that people had Covid-19 without realizing as they gave samples locally. Donations were subsequently recalled after staff were alerted of a positive test.