Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nurses rarely, if ever, go on strike. Given the importance of their work, they rightly view strike action as a last resort. The current situation is so dire that 95% of the nurses in the INMO who were balloted chose strike action. This is the INMO's second strike in 100 years. That should be a wake-up call for the Government. Nurses and midwives are being forced to go on strike in an attempt to ensure patients in our health service are safe. The recruitment and retention crisis is continuing, partly because of terrible working conditions and partly because of the Government's refusal to deal with the pay issue. Nurses are emigrating to countries with functioning health services to escape the HSE. It is difficult to bring them back because conditions in our health service are not improving. The working conditions of nurses are horrendous and are getting worse. When I speak to nurses who have emigrated, they tell me they have rekindled their grá for the nursing profession now that they are in a better working environment with better conditions, pay and resources to deal with patient care.

Even though the population of this country has increased by 500,000 in the past ten years, the number of staff nurses here has decreased by 6%. Services are understaffed and underfunded. Nurses work longer hours than their counterparts in most other countries. Their work can be dangerous and is often difficult. They are underpaid. The INMO is asking for the pay of nurses and midwives to increase in line with therapeutic grades in the HSE, but the Government has rejected this on the basis that it cannot afford it. We all know this is a nonsense. We would have plenty of money in this State if the Government would only spend it wisely. Rather than spending millions of euro each year on subsidising private landlords, the Government should build social housing. The same point applies in this instance. Rather than spending €1.2 million a week on agency staff to make up for the shortage of staff nurses, the Government should pay nurses properly. If the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, can afford to give tax breaks to landlords and banks as he did in last year's budget, and if he can afford to increase Deputies' pay, he can afford to pay nurses fairly.

It is clear that this Government does not value the vital work done by nurses. It has shown nothing but disrespect and disdain for nurses since this dispute began. It is shameful that it has allowed the situation to escalate like this. The nurses and midwives have the support of Sinn Féin and, equally importantly, the support of the people. The Government needs to get a grip on this matter. Everyone we meet on the street is backing the nurses. It is high time the Minister for Health and the Government gave the nurses and midwives the respect they deserve.

See this speech in context