HSE may cut nurses’ pay by up to 20%

THE nurses’ dispute is set for a major escalation if the Health Service Executive (HSE) goes ahead with its threat to cut nurses’ pay by 20% next week.

As thousands of nurses took part in one-hour work stoppages around the country yesterday, Barry O’Brien, the HSE’s assistant national human resources director, said the HSE was seriously considering a pay cut for nurses if the work-to-rule went on.

“We can no longer sustain costs of €2 million per week which we’re paying people to do the work nurses normally do. Our options include reducing all nurses’ pay by up to 20%, if the work-to-rule continues,” he said. He warned of chaos if nurses’ unions held their planned three-hour work stoppages in a number of hospitals next week.

“Such stoppages would have huge implications for patient care. For instance, all planned activities in Cork University Hospital for Friday would have to be cancelled. People can only imagine what it will be like in Beaumont Hospital, in Dublin, which sees around 1,000 patients per day.”

He was speaking in Tralee where more than 300 nurses were joined by patients, supporters and politicians as they marched outside Kerry General Hospital.

Contrary to what the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) and Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) were saying, he claimed it was nonsense to suggest patients were not suffering because of the work-to-rule.

He also said the dispute had cost the HSE €10m so far, and it would not be sustainable to continue paying nurses their full pay.

He said nurses were in breach of their contracts by not co-operating with the use of modern technology like laptops and beepers.

Meanwhile, INO general secretary Liam Doran warned of a “significant change” in the tone of the dispute if the HSE docked nurses’ pay. He refused to say if the response from nurses would be a further escalation of the dispute. A ban on overtime has already been threatened if the HSE continues to refuse to budge on its demand for a 35-hour week and a 10.6% pay rise.

Both the INO and PNA, who have been on a work-to-rule for five weeks, have a mandate for short, rolling work stoppages but are not proposing they be longer than three hours.

Mr Doran said that while all critical-care areas would be fully staffed during work stoppages, the escalation of stoppages would inevitably result in more cancellations of planned surgical procedures.

He said the health authority did not cut the pay of senior health managers during their six-week work-to-rule in late 2004. Those managers got a pay increase and their jobs guaranteed for life, he pointed out. He also said the nurses knew from the start that they were facing a struggle and were prepared for a long campaign.

PNA general secretary Des Kavanagh said the protest had become part of the fabric of the election.

There were a lot of votes available from nurses and their families and the question now was who was going to come forward with a solution, he said.

Election candidates including Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan, Labour’s Terry O’Brien, Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae and Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris turned out to support the nurses in Tralee. Fianna Fáil candidates were absent.

INO vice-president Sheila Dickson, a former FF councillor in Killarney, called on FG leader Enda Kenny to come out stronger in his support for the nurses.

“My own vote and the votes of more than 40,000 nurses are up for sale.”