Bonus to nurses and midwives 'not permitted' under agreement, says Donnelly

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly says agreement disallows payments to nurses and midwives. Picture: Gareth Chaney

The Government has said the payment of any kind of bonus to nurses and midwives is not permitted under the terms of its pay deal for State employees.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has made clear that the awarding of bonuses to nurses and midwives and those on the front lines of the pandemic is not allowed.

Before Christmas, there were repeated calls for the Government to give some form of payment to nurses and frontline workers.

Student nurses are currently paid €15,056 a year, a staff nurse earns between €30,609 and €47,341 while advanced nurse practitioners can earn up to €72,895.

Mr Donnelly said he and his department recognises that healthcare workers play a key role in our national effort against Covid-19.

“Their determination and commitment to assisting our sick and vulnerable to get the medical treatment they need, has and continues to be, very much appreciated,” he said.

“It should be noted that the pursuit of cost-increasing pay claims are specifically excluded under the terms of the Public Service Stability Agreement [PSSA]. This means that any bonus, including additional pay, is not permitted under the PSSA,” he said, in a response to a parliamentary question asked by Fine Gael TD for Dublin Mid-West Emer Higgins.

The Department of Public Expenditure confirmed the newly-signed pay deal had no mechanism to allow such payments.

Ms Higgins said nurses deserved more than our thanks and our applause. 

"I have asked the Government to look at how we reward nurses. I have suggested retention bonuses, like what they do in Scotland, and I also raised the idea of giving them extra tax credits, because despite the absolute necessity of their work and the dangers they expose themselves to, their overtime is taxed at the higher rate,” she said.

Opposition TDs have been highly critical of the Government’s refusal to consider any such extraordinary payment.

INMO statement on the student nurse and midwife pandemic report tonight.

We'll be meeting the Department of Health in the coming days to call on the Minister to do the right thing. pic.twitter.com/OmqToLAG5Y

— Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) January 4, 2021

Bríd Smith, Solidarity People Before Profit, said the student nurses should be paid for the hours they do as they were in the first wave of the pandemic.

“We were told banning evictions was not possible until it was. These people don’t want our applause or platitudes any more,” she said.