STAFF AT OBERSTOWN Children Detention Campus are to stage a 72-hour strike next week as a dispute over staffing and resources resumes.

Trade union Fórsa has served notice that its members will stop work from 12.01am next Monday, 5 October, until 12.01am on Thursday, 8 October.

Industrial action at the State’s only child-detention facility had been paused following talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in August.

However, Fórsa said today that an agreement reached through those talks has not been fully honoured by Oberstown management or the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

The union said a commitment had been made to submit a business case to the Department of Public Expenditure by last week, but claimed this had not happened.

Fórsa official Deirdre O’Connell said the failure to implement the agreement had undermined members’ confidence in the process and left concerns around staffing and resources unresolved.

“The escalation to a 72-hour work stoppage reflects the seriousness of the situation and the absence of meaningful progress in resolving the dispute,” O’Connell said.

“Our members paused their industrial action in good faith to allow space for agreement, but that goodwill has not been reciprocated.”

O’Connell said staff continued to have concerns about safe staffing levels and the ability to provide a safe environment for both workers and young people at the campus.

Fórsa said it remained available for talks but warned that further industrial action could follow if the dispute remains unresolved.

Oberstown has previously disputed the union’s characterisation of staffing and safety at the campus, saying last month that it had increased frontline staffing and recorded a fall in incidents.