Under the deal struck by Siptu with GSH, which will finally allow the hotels to be sold off, each of the 950 hotel workers will get six weeks' pay for every year worked in the hotels, yielding over 50,000 to those with long service.

This is the largest goodwill payment ever made to Irish workers and dwarfs the maximum payment of 6,000 made last week to the 2,000 Roches' Stores staff.

The long established Irish retailer is selling out to UK based chain, Debenhams, but like GSH workers, Roches Stores' staff will be paid their goodwill payments even if they are kept on by Debenhams.

On top of the goodwill payment, the hotel group, which is owned by the Dublin Airport Authority, has agreed to pay even larger severance payments of eight weeks' pay per year of service.

This would yield payments of almost 70,000 for the considerable number of hotel workers with long service.

But while a large chunk of severance payments are taxfree, goodwill payments are taxable. The tax rules applying are very complex, however.

Consequently, the staff sought tax advice on how best to maximise their gain from the generous loyalty and severance payments.

"The GSH group will establish a helpline for employees, and tax consultants will be made available free of charge at each hotel", said Siptu's national industrial secretary, Gerry McCormack last week after announcing that the GSH staff had strongly backed the hotel group's compensation offer.

The union held out for the large goodwill payments on the basis that unlike other state workers involved in privatisation moves such as Eircom and Aer Lingus, workers in the GSH group would not be getting any shares in the new privatised hotel operation.