Hospital apologises to foreign nurses

THE head of the National Maternity Hospital has apologised for upsetting foreign nurses allegedly threatened with repatriation if they did not agree to sign contracts which would result in loss of earnings of €26,000.

Commenting on claims by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) that 16 general nurses from India and the Philippines had been told their visas would be cancelled if they did not agree to train as midwives, Dr Michael Robson said: “If anything like that happened, we would need to address it as soon as possible.”

An emergency meeting between Dr Robson, the INO and the 16 nurses was due to take place last night.