In 1998, the Labour Court recommended that a pay-parity claim for 16 Care Assistants at Brothers Of Charity, Waterford be processed in the same way as a related case. It said it would make a definitive recommendation if the issue was not resolved nationally by the end of the year. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought the same rate as at the employer's Galway centre. The Belmont workers were on about £12,000 a year, while the Galway scale reached £14,000. Management argued the claim was cost-increasing and had national implications. The recommendation was dated 1 October 1998.