Nurses dispute - Compromises by both sides needed now

Health Minister Mary Harney is embattled on three fronts.

She is in conflict with both the nurses and the consultant doctors, while there is also confusion in relation to the co-location plans for private hospitals to be built on the grounds of eight public hospitals.

Developers who are interested will have to tender for the sites by mid-May, and the Health Service Executive will then evaluate the tenders, which could take another two weeks.

As a result, the contracts may not be awarded until after the General Election. This could put the project in further doubt, because the opposition parties have stated that they will scrap the current government’s co-location plans if they are returned to power following the election.

The minister indicated that her patience had run out in relation to differences with the consultants. In an address to the annual conference of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) in Killarney yesterday, she said that she intends to go ahead with plans to advertise for new consultants under the Government’s conditions.

She hoped that the IMO would not try to frustrate the process by advising young doctors not to apply.

She insisted that advertising for new consultants did not necessarily mean that new contracts could not be reached at a later date with the consultants, but this process will undoubtedly widen the gap between the two sides.

At the time of her appointment as Minister for Health, in September 2004, Ms Harney said the consultants were indicating that there could be a deal within three months. The whole thing has been allowed to drag on for too long and she is now determined to press ahead.

She also indicated that there could be no compromise with the nurses in relations to pay claims that would breach the National Wage Agreement. Such a settlement would run risk of leading to the kind of free-for-all that plagued industrial relations before the introduction of Social Partnership, according to Finance Minister Brian Cowen.

The 5.1% rise in inflation during March, which the Mr Cowen depicted as an expected temporary spike, has limited the Government’s room for manoeuvre, because pay increases will feed the vicious cycle of inflation and lead to further pay demands from other sectors.

Both Mr Cowen and Ms Harney indicated, however, that progress could be made with the nurses in relation to working hours, but this will require broad consultations with other interested parties. If both sides approached the working hours issue in an open and positive manner, progress should be possible.

“It is the way we go about trying to do this which is very important,” Mr Cowen emphasised.

There is an opening, but it will require both sides to move. This initiative should be taken in the interest of everyone.