Two of country's biggest health unions threaten  industrial action amid public service pay dispute

Fórsa union representatives are preparing wider action (Cillian Sherlock/PA)

Public health employers have been served with notice of planned industrial action from the end of the month over a pay dispute with the Government.

Fórsa and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) confirmed their members had voted for action

Fórsa, the country's largest public service trade union, said it served formal notice of industrial action commencing on September 30 on employers in the health sector, including the HSE, Tusla and Section 38 organisations, on Wednesday.

Fórsa has set out a range of “initial, targeted actions”, including working-to-rule, refusing overtime and refusing to co-operate with proposals to extend working patterns across a seven-day roster.

The union said that while the Industrial Relations Act requires one week’s notice of industrial action, it was following convention in the health services by providing three weeks’ notice.

Fórsa said the additional notice period reflects the essential nature of health services and allows employers to make appropriate contingency arrangements.

It is the first in a series of notices expected to be issued to public service employers in advance of “nationwide industrial action”.

Fórsa represents members across health, local government, the civil service, education and State agencies, and said it expects employers in other sectors to be notified in the coming weeks.

The union’s head of Health and Welfare, Ashley Connolly, said: “Our members provide vital public services every day.

“Serving notice today marks the beginning of a planned and proportionate escalation by public service workers who have made clear that the Government’s current position on pay is not sustainable.”

The INMO meanwhile said 

over 99% of its members voted in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

It has not said when the action will begin.

The union's general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Members on the ground, who are working in extremely challenging conditions due to overcrowding and understaffing, have made it clear that they are dissatisfied with the lack of urgency surrounding the cost-of-living pressures they are facing.

"Our members have made it clear that the health service cannot continue to rely on the goodwill of nurses, midwives and public service workers as a whole. Members want to be remunerated in a way that reflects the times in which we live and the reality that they get in the car, show up for their shifts and provide care to the most vulnerable in our society at all hours of the day, year round.