Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have some small knowledge of industrial relations between nurses and the State. If the Minister does not acknowledge and address the issue of pay, he will leave nurses and midwives with no choice. The Minister has said, and we all know, the last thing nurses wish to do is contemplate industrial action, but that involves them being given another option. He described the recent pay proposals from the PSPC as a "positive step". Some 94% of those balloted in the INMO have rejected it and, therefore, it is not viewed by them as a positive step.

Will the Minister acknowledge that pay is a factor? I do not mean allowances or any specific element of pay but rather actual pay, that is, what the Minister or I would call pay, which one might have in one's pocket after payday and not any one specific bit thereof that might apply to one person but not to his or her colleagues. Will he acknowledge that pay is central and will he take any steps to address it?

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