Nurses dispute - Both sides holding sick to ransom

THE Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association have announced that they will escalate their industrial action on Wednesday of next week with rolling stoppages around the country in support of their demands for a pay increase of 10% and a 35-hour working week.

In effect, both sides in this dispute are holding the sick to ransom. Liam Doran, general secretary of the INO, has accused Health Minister Mary Harney and the Health Service Executive (HSE) of using scare tactics but this is merely a case of the pot and the kettle calling each other names.

The INO’s case was not helped in recent weeks by its demands in relation to the opening of the Maternity Hospital in Cork.