Mullingar nurses protest over pay deal delays

Nurses and midwives at the Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar held a lunchtime protest last week as anger grows over delays in reaching a new public sector pay agreement.

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) gathered outside the hospital to highlight concerns over pay, rising living costs and what they say is a failure by government to address the financial pressures facing healthcare workers.

The lunchtime protest comes ahead of planned public sector strikes on October 14 and October 21. Workers across the public service have been engaged in a work-to-rule since last week following the expiry of the previous public sector pay agreement at the end of June.

Unions have accused the government of failing to make meaningful commitments on pay and addressing the increased cost of living. On Tuesday, the government announced €1.2 billion in funding for a new public sector pay deal as part of Budget 27.ICU nurse and member of the INMO Executive Council, Tracey O’Fiaich, said the announcement had not addressed the concerns of nurses and midwives.

“Aside from the issue of a pay rise our main concern is the rise in the cost of living,” Ms O’Fiaich told the Westmeath Examiner during the protest, pointing to the rising expense of fuel and heating homes.

“We feel that that wasn’t addressed, no, in the budget. We’re very disappointed, we feel we’re being ignored.”

She stressed that the protest was taking place during nurses’ unpaid lunch breaks, with others attending on their days off.

Ms O’Fiaich said the INMO industrial action would progress next week if a breakthrough was not made, and hospital services would be affected: “Next week we are escalating to a work stoppage because the government haven’t agreed to talk about cost of living.

“Next Wednesday there will be work stoppages in this hospital, and throughout the country. It’ll be like Christmas Day, there’ll be no surgeries, no clinics, no outpatients – however, the patients that are here as inpatients will be very well cared for, as always,”

Advanced nurse practitioner candidate Eileen Delaney also highlighted the financial pressures facing healthcare workers, particularly the cost of childcare.

Ms Delaney said she pays more than €1,100 a month for childcare and argued that the government’s planned €550 monthly childcare cap would not be realistic for many healthcare staff who work shifts.

“If you’re a healthcare worker, you’re a shift worker,” she said, “crèches may not be available to you, and even if they are, they also don’t take children under one. The nature of our working hours means that we can’t avail of the options covered by the €550 cap.”

Ms Delaney questioned the financial incentive for experienced nurses to remain in the profession, saying that after years of education and training, some could be better off working fewer hours elsewhere.

“I have done the maths on this and if I was to leave my job, go to an agency and work one night a week and mind three children a week, I would be financially better off. I think that leaves a lot to be desired, particularly when you spent eight years in college, you’re trained to a master’s level. It doesn’t make sense.”

She also raised concerns about recruitment and retention within the health service, pointing to what she described as the contradiction between shortages of nurses and newly qualified nurses struggling to secure employment.

Ms Delaney said there appears to be a disconnect between what the government say and what they are doing: “They’re not living in the current reality of the vast majority of society, which is very sad. There’s loads of newly qualified nurses, but they can’t get a job. Yet there’s a shortage of nurses because of a recruitment ban – that doesn’t add up.”

The Mullingar protest came as unions continue to seek negotiations with government on a new public sector pay agreement, as workers warn that the cost of living remains a major concern heading into the winter.

Ms O’Fiaich said nurses appreciated public support but “recognition in terms of pay” was needed, to help nurses and midwives meet rising living costs.