Nurses to hold another mass rally for higher pay

Nurses have decided to hold another mass rally in Dublin next month as part of their campaign for improved pay and reduced working hours.

The Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Association have gone outside the benchmarking process to seek pay increases of more than 10% and a reduction in their members' working week from 39 to 35 hours.

They say there is growing frustration and anger among Ireland's 40,000 nurses and midwives about how the Health Service Executive is treating them in comparison to other staff in the sector.

Earlier today, Health Minister Mary Harney said the nurses should pursue their claims through the benchmarking system.