Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ní thógfadh aon altra an cinneadh seo go héadrom. Tuigeann siad go bhfuil siad tar éis deireadh an bhóthar a shroichint leis an bpróiseas faoi mar atá agus go bhfuil gá le stailc le ráiteas suntasach a dhéanamh agus chun an Rialtas a thógáil go dtí an bord cainte.

Nurses and midwives feel they have been taken for granted. The issues they face of pay and of extremely stressful conditions have been going on for years. This has not come from nowhere. I have met the INMO locally in Cork on a number of occasions. The frustrations its members expressed were the same in 2016, 2017 and 2018 as they are now. No nurse would take the decision to strike lightly. They are very committed to their profession and vocation but they feel they have been left with no choice. The thumping, emphatic decision of the ballot, the highest ever in the history of the INMO, with something of the order of a 95% vote in support of it, shows that there must be scarcely a nurse in this country who has not reached the end of their tether and feels their is a need for industrial action. Nurses are committed. They are some of the best qualified and the most capable in the world and are highly sought after. However, it is no coincidence that the number of staff nurses has fallen by 1,700 from 2008 to 2018. They are the lowest paid graduates in the health service, yet the system cannot function without them.

This is a strategic as well as a moral and an industrial issue. The entire health service cannot function without nurses. Unless this matter is addressed, our health system will continue to be in crisis because we will not be able to recruit or retain nurses.

The Government cannot ignore this issue. It cannot treat nurses with contempt. Part of the solution must be to give the nurses the pay they deserve and ensure they do not have to face industrial action. They do not want to do that but they have been put in this position.

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