Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The background to the planned industrial action by the Irish Nurses Organisation and Psychiatric Nurses Association is that they will not take part in the current benchmarking process which is reviewing the pay of public servants and is due to report in the second half of 2007. The INO and PNA have so far declined to sign up to the new national partnership agreement, Towards 2016. Both unions have lodged eight cost-increasing claims related to pay increases and a reduction in working hours. The additional cost of these claims would be almost €1 billion per annum. The unions are also seeking retrospection estimated to cost in excess of €500 million.

In November of last year the Labour Court recommended that the pay claims be processed through benchmarking. On the claim for reduced working hours, the court recommended that the parties should jointly explore the possibility of initiating an appropriate process aimed at achieving major reorganisation of working arrangements and practices within the health service generally. While health service employers have accepted this recommendation, the unions have stated they neither accept nor reject the recommendation.

Following the publication of the Labour Court recommendation on the union's claims, I wrote to both unions and arranged for exploratory discussions to be held between all the parties concerned on 19 January last. While I understand the discussions provided clarity as to the respective positions of the parties, the meeting adjourned without agreement on the way forward. It remains the Government's view that benchmarking is the appropriate mechanism to resolve the pay issues. Management is readily available to enter into discussions on an appropriate process aimed at achieving major reorganisation of working arrangements and practices within the health service generally, within the context of the Labour Court recommendation and the prevailing national agreements. I urge the leadership of the INO and PNA to give further consideration to the recommendation of the Labour Court and to make the case on behalf of their members, as other nursing unions have done, before the benchmarking body.

The INO and PNA served three weeks notice of industrial action on 2 February. This notice states that there will be a nationwide work to rule and series of work stoppages across health employments. Health service employers have been endeavouring to agree contingency arrangements to ensure maintenance of essential services during the planned industrial action. However, the INO and PNA have not stated the format, location and timing of the work stoppages. The failure to provide this information is a very serious matter. The HSE requires this information to ensure that services and patients are not put at risk. I ask the leadership of the INO and PNA to urgently reconsider their position.

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