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PASCHAL DONOHOE HAS said increasing nurses’ salaries could lead to other public service workers seeking pay rises.
Speaking in the Dáil, the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform acknowledged “the immense contribution that our nurses make in our hospitals and primary care centres every day”.
To which Independents 4 Change TD Joan Collins responded: “Pay them.”
“While I am very much aware of this contribution, I am equally aware of the contribution that many other public servants make to our economy and society,” Donohoe continued yesterday evening.
He stated that giving nurses a pay rise would lead to the “risk of knock-on claims”, adding: “That is not an option for any government.”
His department believes that the estimated €300 million cost of the nurses’ claim would trigger knock-on claims across the public service. Donohoe noted that when gardaí received pay rises totalling €50 million in 2016, an additional €120 million had to be paid to other public servants.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has scheduled six 24-hour strikes by its 37,000 members on 30 January and 5, 7, 12, 13 and 14 February if their issues are not addressed.
Members will continue to provide lifesaving care and emergency response teams during this period, but some operations and clinic appointments will be cancelled.
The dispute centres on pay, conditions and staffing levels. The number of staff nurses working in Ireland fell by 1,754 (6%) between 2008 and 2018, despite an increased demand on the health service. 95% of INMO members have voted in favour of going on strike.
Psychiatric nurses also plan to strike in February, citing similar concerns.
Talks are taking place between the INMO, the Psychiatric Nurses Association, the Department of Health and the HSE to try to avert the strikes.
‘Ball is in government’s court’
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha has said going on strike is the “last thing a nurse or midwife wants to do, but the crisis in recruitment and retention has made it impossible for us to do our jobs properly”.
“We are not able give patients the care they deserve under these conditions.
“The HSE simply cannot recruit enough nurses and midwives on these wages. Until that changes, the health service will continue to go understaffed and patient care will be compromised.
The ball is in the government’s court. This strike can be averted. All it takes is for the government to acknowledge our concerns, engage with us directly, and work to resolve this issue, in a proactive manner.
Speaking yesterday evening, Donohoe noted that many TDs present had referred to the fact there were nurses in the public gallery of the Dáil chamber during the discussion, stating that the same chairs “would quickly be filled with other public servants who would ask why the same money cannot be made available to them”.
“Agreements were made with public servants on the basis of integrity around our wage policy. We have said that a certain amount of money is available in any given year, of between one-quarter and one-third of what we spend each year, and that is set aside for pay.
“In addition to that, we have put in place a plan for €1.1 billion of additional wage changes and increases, all of which are deserved by our public servants. When we made that agreement with them, we as a Government, underscored by elements in this Dáil, said that this is the best that is available to them.”
Donohoe asked TDs what would they say to teachers, civil servants and members of the armed forces if nurses got a pay rise and they didn’t.
Donohoe also ruled out the establishment of a judge-led commission to review the nursing and midwifery professions, a proposal put forward by Fianna Fáil.
‘They work exceptionally hard’
Responding to Donohoe in the Dáil, FF TD Eamon Scanlon noted that the INMO ballot was not just about wage increases, but also patient safety.
“The HSE has not been able to recruit and retain sufficient nurses and midwives, meaning that the health service is understaffed. Nurses are working 12-hour shifts which sometimes run into 13 or 14 hours. They rarely get out of work on time and are constantly contacted on their days off to do overtime.
They work exceptionally hard and it is often forgotten that they have families of their own to look after. They care for everyone and they are not rewarded in the way that they should be.
“In Australia, the maximum number of patients in a nurse’s care is six but in Ireland it can be between 15 and 20, which speaks for itself. Morale among nurses is at an all-time low at the moment,” Scanlon said.
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What about all those who couldn’t possibly think less of Britain than they already did?
@Fergal McDonagh: indeed Fergal
Some of us never thought much of “England as Britain” particularly when acting in Ireland.
Let’s remember “The British Government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland.” – James Connolly (1916)
@Fergal McDonagh: they are the half who couldn’t care less about the British. Joly Good
@Fergal McDonagh: Some of you guys are nothing more than a mirror image of the most outspoken Brexiteers with your hate.
Sad really.
@Justin Gillespie: How do you reckon the English would feel if a foreign power took 20% of their land?
@Anne Warren: yes but they aren’t ‘in’ Ireland.
@A Well Known Comical Stereotype: The English would give it back in a heartbeat if they could.
Unfortunately the bigotry and hatred on both sides means that it isn’t likely to happen anytime soon
@Anne Warren:
When will it stop. Its like british going on about the Romans.
@Justin Gillespie: both sides? did both sides pressurise Britain to invade here 800 years ago. Did both sides ask for or vote for Brexit?
Was Britain ever neutral in Ireland? Get a grip Justin, you are not fooling anyone with that nonsense – in the same week as the innocent tortured Hooded men by the British Army is back in the news.
The thing is Justin, something you fail to get your head around, is people on here expressing such views of Britain’s role in Ireland, reserves such feelings towards the British political establishment, not the ordinary British people who are generally decent people.
@A Well Known Comical Stereotype:
They did, years ago. The romans, remember them
@Justin Gillespie: R ubbish on all counts. They could give it back in six months by making it so. The bigotry is on the side of the empire, not the victims of empire. Do you blame Nelson Mandela for apartheid?
As if things aren’t decisive enough, let the MSM find new angles to divide even further.
@Ernie Gallagher: divisive?
@Ernie Gallagher: Glad to see someone calling this pettiness out.
I think much less of our Government and the experts advising them “NETPH” after today’s announcements to be honest. At least they seem to be living some form of a normal life.
@Tom Hickey: Not for much longer.
@Tom Hickey: Half a million new cases of covid-19 is living a normal life. Wow What do you consider normal.
Why do 99% of us here need so badly to be feel superior to other countries? Its not a good look.
@Contrary Mary: FRO back to USA. Superior? FO 99% FO
@Watchful Axe: I definitely hit a nerve. lol
@Contrary Mary: 99% of us do not have a need to feel superior to anyone . Only Ireland’s 1% do so .
@Contrary Mary: Superior? you need to explain that one.
Don’t think they’ll lose much sleep about it
@The Cuban Lad: — They’re too busy hating each other to worry about any outsiders hating them.
There are of course those for whom the country was already sort of sat at the bottom of the pit, so it makes one wonder whether their views could even have been properly represented in this particular survey.
I was born in England but feel very embarrassed by the current level of the intelligence of the electorate!!
@Chris Gaffney: I’m English and living in Ireland as are my family. My mother says she’s embarrassed to be British at this stage. I don’t agree with that… I’m embarrassed of Britain though.
@Max Bailey: I’m British been here 30 odd years & couldn’t care less what people think. If they want to rejoin ROI have a vote no one cares, ask Barbados who recently voted to become an independent country no one batted an eyelid. Hong Kong went back to China having become one of the richest countries per capita in the world when the last UK governor left but if they decided to remain a part of the UK they will be defended just as the likes of Gibraltar, the Falklands etc would be. Every year during hurricane season the UK stations large warships in the Caribbean to rescue crown dependencies if they are hit because it’d responsible for their safety but no one would care if they became republics.
@Joe Thorpe: Most of us laugh at the British belief of being superior to everyone.
Like football, we love England getting beaten, why? we love to see the English press tie themselves up in knots about it.
Its hilarious as they try and blame everyone else.
A constant source of amusement.
What a groundbreaking poll.
@Ronan Walsh: We’ll, it did find Aontú voters, so that has to be a thing.
I wonder what percent of British people are laughing at the endless lockdowns here?
@Stephen Nix: Probably the 93,045 infected with covid today.
@Stephen Nix: Uk had taken a different tactic this time round. Put messaging out recommending that people restrict their movements without enforcing it. Without doubt people are worried and are taking responsibility for themselves.
The negative side of this, of course, is retail and hospitality are further hit but as it is not enforced, the government does not feel the same obligation for protective financial packages which many are upset about.
Personally I think it is the correct way to go. Keeps industry afloat but emphasises the risks. Treating people like grown ups for once.
The mass infections are mirrored all over the place. It’ll be the same everywhere. Just at different times.
I think it is well understood that restrictions slow hospitalisation, not reduce them much.
@Stephen Nix: we’re not in lockdown here, curb your hyperbole. Good lad.
@TomTraubert: im a DJ and a barmen. i have just lost most of my income a week before Christmas. Lockdown or not this is a kick in the nuts.
Hello this is my first comment on the journal
@John Clarke: Get out John while you still can.
@John Clarke: Welcome to the thunderdome.
I think we should join them Europe isn’t that great and the brits are in politics since there was politics I think there right
@John Clarke: when you have, neither punctuation nor grammar you should stop!! And brexit will be the bane of their lives not ours!!
@Bigblue2572: Sorry my grammar isn’t on par with yours
@John Clarke: grammar is the least of your worries!
@John Clarke: Hopefully this is your first and last comment, complete nonsense.
@John Clarke: and you started so well John
@Dec: lol
Boo hoo! Don’t the Irish realise that most people in Britain don’t even know Ireland exists and if they do they think that it’s just the six counties? I’m sure they’re all crying into their cafe Nero cappuccinos in Knightsbridge as I’m typing that the Irish think less of them. Ffs, get a grip people? This article is embarrassing! If England gets a chill the Irish get a cold. We only have to look at this weeks over reaction by the government here to the UK’s covid situation and the rise of omicron. Rather than looking at what doctors in South Africa have to say about it. Their knee jerk reaction is to half shut the country down because they’ve had one death in the uk. As far as brexit is concerned, they’ve made their bed, let them lie in it.
@Colm O’Leary: I agree. Although Brexit has a big impact on us, so unfortunately we’ll be lying in the bed too to some degree.
@Colm O’Leary: Most people in Britain don’t even know Ireland exists? God you must think worse of them than those surveyed! Brexit was a dumb move sure, but they’re not all idıots colm.
@Colm O’Leary: It would be interesting to know what percentage of the population in Britain have Irish Roots. I have loads of relatives who emigrated over there to find work when there was nothing for them here and never came back. They worked hard ,reared and educated their children many of whom did very well lest we forget.
The bit I don’t understand is how it is only now it is becoming apparent to the electorate that Boris Johnson is a train wreck,a fact that was obvious to any rational person from the start.
@Aine O Connor: Afaik it’s around 10%.
Seriously I wouldn’t judge anyone on the fact they have ×#!× of a government@
It’s not half of people in Ireland, it’s half the journal readers who took the poll
Britain, can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
@malcolm smith: Exactly. Very slow to get deliveries now (in my experience at least), and is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to buy decent second hand cars. I’m sure that there are many more things affected also. Brexit was/is a bit of a disaster for us
The age demographic speaks a lot.
This is the generation that comes after the GFA. Perfidious Albion is unknowsnt to them.
@Patrick Corr: Or was, and Brexit is in the process of changing that.
Opposite for me. Brexit has brought pay rises and better conditions to our sector.
I once met a person from this Britain you speak of! Blimey but they talk funny mate me old China cor guvnor that’s a real pea-souper tonight lumme oh what a knees up bang to rights you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off gertcha…
@William Tallon: are you alright? You sound like you’ve had a stroke while typing?
@Colm O’Leary: I may very well have had a stroke but I can’t be sure! To help determine same maybe you might let me know what criteria you’re using. The deliberate omission of punctuation marks for attempted humourous purposes is so far as I know not a particularly good indicator of the occurrence of a cerebrovascular accident…
Hi this is my first comment on the journal but I’ve been a long time reader and I think the comments are the best thing about the journal.
I also think the bits are right leaving the EU they have been I’m politics since politics began they never fully committed and they were right d,one forget however stupid or dumb you think a political party are they’ve generally been in this game a long time sometimes generations all going to school with each other and forming connections throughout life from qn early age I’m a irish man proud of it two I don’t generally like the British government but they know from experience when to leave a sinking ship.
@John Clarke: You should read over your typed comments before posting. Numerous spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
What about all those Irish now living and working in the UK…what do they think?
@indh2004: When Edna was lobbying them they seemed to be voting for Brexit too they wanted to protect their jobs from cheap imported labour
It is hardly surprising that opinions of the UK have changed since Brexit . The list of abusive tirades and snide comments directed at this country since seems almost endless . They aren’t confined to the usual suspects in the Telegraph and Mail either . (Incidentally these are the newspapers of respectable Middle England .) The English have simply been honest about how they feel about Ireland and that has opened quite a few eyes over here .
Let’s be fair, since and before Brexit their successive governments had done a sterling job in consistently lying to the population, blaming Europe for the failings of brexit cause they got what they wanted and at thats before their policies in relation to the pandemic. I’m stunned
Ya what now???
The whole lead up to Brexit did change my opinion a lot about the UK. Prior to that I had thought the UK was far better a being a multicultural society than the US is. The attitudes expressed by UK society and media showed me I had been very mistaken about that.
They appear to have lost the plot
How is this even possible ?
@Brian O’ Leary: They conducted a survey and posted the results
What a trash headline. Sure enough the gougers of society will descend on this story with glee. Never liked em anyway etc. Division is the enemy of all people
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