Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Acceding to this claim from the INO and the PNA would cost €1 billion. A Labour Court hearing on the claims was held on 20 June and the court issued its recommendation on 9 November. It noted that the social partnership agreements continued to have the support of the great majority of workers, their trade unions and employers. The court also stated that the agreements provided an agreed framework by which workers could obtain improvements in pay and conditions of employment.

The court did not recommend concession of any of the major claims made by the two unions. Instead the court urged the unions to reconsider their position with regard to participation in benchmarking to have their claims examined through that process.

The HSE employers' agency has accepted the Labour Court recommendation and has called on the unions to reconsider their attitude to the benchmarking process. The employers have also urged the INO and the PNA to sign up the current national agreement, Towards 2016. It should be noted that SIPTU and IMPACT, which represent a minority of nurses, are co-operating with benchmarking and have recently made written and oral submissions to the public service benchmarking body on behalf of their members. Government policy on cost-increasing claims is clear. It is not open to public service unions to pursue pay claims otherwise than in accordance with the terms of the prevailing national pay agreement.

The Minister values the essential contribution of nurses and midwives to the delivery of a quality health service and she urges the INO and the PNA, in the interests of both patients and staff, to give serious consideration to the court's recommendation.