SEVEN field staff with Irish Life have been suspended on full pay pending the completion of investigations concerning allegations about their behaviour during the recently ended industrial dispute.

Sharp differences have broken out between MSF members and union officials, while members of the Irish Life MSE negotiating committee have strongly criticised the ICTU negotiating team which represented them in the Employer Labour Conference (ELC) hearing that ended the dispute.

In addition, the 34 SIPTU workers, who were not party to the ELC binding arbitration hearing, hope to return to work next Monday under their old terms and conditions. A spokesman for the company described this as "bizarre" and said there could be no "two tier" sales force.

He said the company was "committed" to the ELC agreement. It would be "extraordinary" if SIPTU sought to ignore the ELC, which involved ICTU.

The company has written to the union to ask for a meeting to clarify the position. A meeting may take place today. A SIPTU source said he hoped management would seek to find an agreed settlement rather than try to impose a solution on the staff.

According to Mr Bernard Reilly, chairman of the MSF negotiating committee, a meeting last Wednesday in Portlaoise attended by around 160 of the 320 MSF members in Irish Life, passed a motion of no confidence in MSF national secretary, Mr John Tierney.

In a statement, which he said was issued on behalf of the negotiating committee, Mr Reilly, referring to the ELC hearings, said: "Our members condemn the role played by the ICTU in this fiasco."

He condemned the suspension of staff by the company in relation to issues which arose during the dispute. He said this was in breach of the goodwill embodied in the ELC findings.

Mr Paul Looby, vicechairman of the negotiating committee, said the workforce was "totally discontented" as a result of the ELC decision.

Mr Tierney said members had voted three to one to enter the binding arbitration process. It was an extremely bitter dispute and the ELC did everything by proper procedure, he said.