Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with virtually everything the Deputy said apart from the final line. The Government respects nurses. The Government accepts and understands that no nurse wants to be out on strike when he or she could be at work. There is an understanding that the INMO has not done this likely. The union does not do it often. This is a reflection of the frustration and anxiety in the nursing profession. We want to work with nurses to address those concerns, but as the Deputy has said, we have to do it within the parameters of the pay agreement. We must not unravel that agreement when there is still significant time for it to run and when as a Government we have committed hundreds of millions of euro to the delivery of our side of that agreement.

The Government wants to look at how we can be flexible. That is why we asked the Public Sector Pay Commission to look at this and to look at issues like qualification allowance, location allowance, dual qualification allowance increases and a series of other ways in which we can maintain consistency with the agreement while making a special arrangement within its confines, as the Deputy said. If we move beyond that, other unions will immediately demand the same, as he knows. My clear understanding is that the Government wants to be fair, open and imaginative regarding how we solve this problem, but we have to make sure we can afford any solution we sign up to. We have to make sure it does not fundamentally undermine a pay agreement which is hugely important for the broader economy and for public sector workers across the country. We also have to make sure that it does not involve shifting significant financial resources to salaries from other elements of healthcare. Moreover, it must not require the Government to borrow to meet the pay commitments it signs up to, which would be madness. Most people recognise that. We want to reach out and talk and we want the Labour Court to be allowed to do its job. We want to find a way of closing the gaps that will allow the court to make recommendations that we hope can be a basis for agreement. However, we have to do that within the confines of an agreement that the Government and INMO has signed up to.

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