Benchmarking stance unchanged: FG

FINE Gael yesterday insisted that its stance on the nurses’ dispute is not at odds with a policy document on benchmarking it published in Killarney three-and-a-half years’ ago.

As the nurses’ dispute continued to escalate, party leader Enda Kenny this week offered to intervene within one week and chair the first meeting between both sides if elected to office.

While refusing to state a date for the implementation of one of the Irish Nurses’ Organisation’s key demands — for the working week to be shortened to 35 hours — he went on to say that benchmarking had to be more “open and flexible” in order to allow its second demand — a 10.6% pay rise — to be more productively discussed.