Fianna Fáil demand Government urgently engage with nurses over threatened strike

Fianna Fáil has demanded urgent government engagement with nurses who have threatened strike action later this month.

The party also want an expert group chaired by a judge to assess the dispute.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has given notice of a 24-hour strike on January 30 amid a row over pay and conditions.

Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland (PNA) has also warned of industrial action.

The Dáil will today debate a Fianna Fáil motion to engage with the INMO and the PNA to resolve the dispute.

The party is calling on the government to commission an independent judge-led review of the nursing and midwifery professions which will examine remuneration, contracts and allowances.

The aim of the review would be to address that Fianna Fáil say is “chronic recruitment and retention issues.”

Health spokesman Stephen Donnelly said: “We are facing into many weeks of discontent. The INMO will hold the first of six nationwide 24-hour strikes on January 30, while the PNA is planning a three-day stoppage from February 12.”

He said there must be urgency placed on engagement between the government and these organisations.

He added: “We need to bear in mind the changing nature of the nursing and midwifery professions in recent years and the ever increasing demands of their jobs given the country’s demographic needs.

“We believe these issues and their overall grievances should be independently assessed by an expert group chaired by a Judge. This expert group would examine the extra specialities and extended duties that have evolved in the nursing and midwifery profession as well as remuneration, contracts and allowances.”

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