Our independent scrutineers’ report of voting, as required in accordance with section 231B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, for the above ballot which closed at 10am on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 is as follows:-

QUESTION
ARE YOU PREPARED TO TAKE PART IN INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN THE FORM OF ACTION SHORT OF A STRIKE?
RESULT OF VOTING

Number of ballot papers returned:  5,233
Number of papers found to be invalid: 9
Thus, total number of valid papers to be counted: 5,224
Number voting YES ……………. 4,408 (84.4% of valid vote)
Number voting NO …………….. 816 (15.6% of valid vote)
TOTAL  5,224 (100% of valid vote)

INDEPENDENT SCRUTINEERS’ REPORT OF VOTING

We are satisfied:

• a) that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that there was any contravention of a requirement imposed by or under any enactment in relation to the ballot
• b) that the arrangements made with respect to the production, storage, distribution, return or other handling of the voting papers used in the ballot, and the arrangements for the counting of the votes, included all such security arrangements as were reasonably practicable for the purpose of minimizing the risk that any unfairness or malpractice might occur,
• c) that we have been able to carry out the functions conferred on us under section 226B(1) without any interference from the trade union or any of its members, officials or employees.

We would draw your attention to subsection 231B (2) which requires that, for a six month period starting from the date of the ballot, a copy of this report be made available, on request, to any person who was entitled to vote in the ballot and the employer of any such person. A reasonable fee may be charged for this service.