€2.2bn PRICE OF DITCHING THE PAY DEAL
That’s the cost if INMO gets 12% and other unions follow
BREAKING the public sector pay deal to meet the INMO’s pay demands could cost taxpayers more than €2.2billion a year – the equivalent of hiking the basic rate of income tax by more than three percentage points.
That’s the estimated price of giving everyone in the public sector the same 12% pay hike being sought by nursing union leaders.
And both unions and ministers have warned that agreeing to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s demands would spark a wave of similar claims across the public sector.
The second day of strikes by members of the INMO caused major disruption yesterday, with an estimated 27,000 procedures affected.
The 80,000-strong Fórsa public sector union has already warned it will seek extra pay if the INMO secures benefits outside the public sector pay agreement, and other unions could follow .
Nurses are seeking a 12% pay hike. Wages for the public sector are estimated to reach €18.7billion this year, meaning an across-theboard 12% pay hike would cost €2.2billion. With a one-point hike in the lower rate of income tax estimated to raise €673million, meeting such a pay hike would require the equivalent of a three percentage point hike in income tax.
A third day of strikes is to take place tomorrow, with another five days later this month.
The INMO is calling for pay parity with other professions such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists – a gap which, it’s estimated, would require an across-the-board 12% pay rise. Mr Donohoe yesterday warned that agreeing to a pay increase for the nurses would have ‘huge consequences’ for the public purse.
He told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that the claims could risk unravelling the existing public service pay agreement.
‘If there’s a change here for nurses, every other group will then say well, if we don’t get the same change we will feel the need to take action against the Government, to make that happen,’ he said.
‘And when your public sector wage bill is anywhere between a quarter and a third of total expenditure, the consequences of that for how we manage our national finances are huge.’
The chairman of the Oireachtas Budgetary Oversight Committee, Fine Gael TD Colm Brophy, backed that view, saying that the State could not provide pay hikes from money it did not have.
He told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘We want to find a resolution to this dispute, but that resolution must come within the confines of the public sector pay deal.
‘The State can’t afford to settle the dispute at the cost of money that it doesn’t have.
‘An increase of the kind being sought would necessitate borrowing, or an increase in income taxes, and I would hope nurses would not like to see that.
‘The public sector pay agreement is a good deal, it’s one that was agreed to by all the unions and the different groups.
‘You cannot then turn around and say we’re going to treat one specific group in this deal differently from the others.
‘If you do that, you will find yourself facing pay demands from everyone else who signed up to the deal and it will unravel.’ Chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association Neil McDonnell said: ‘We note the position of Fórsa on this.
‘There’s no question that if there is a concession made on this pay claim it will lead to knock-on claims from different groups.’ He added: ‘In the end, these pay increases will be coming out of taxes that we all have to pay.’
The strike had ‘quite a dramatic impact’ yesterday, said David Walsh, director of community operations at the HSE. ‘There were 13,000 patient contacts or appointments not proceeding or cancelled because of the action,’ he said.
Access to respite services in public nursing homes and disability centres was also affected.
And he said the same number of patient appointments would be lost in tomorrow’s action.
‘I’ve been particularly concerned about older people at home missing out on their regular public health nurse checks and child developmental clinics as well as
‘Other groups will feel the need to act’ ‘It will come from taxes we all pay’
those supports like respite care and rehabilitation as well,’ he said, and added that moving people from acute hospitals into rehab beds had suffered a ‘major impact’.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said an offer of talks to the INMO had been made in good faith, although he has promised not to address the nursing unions through the media in future.
Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Labour all condemned the fact that an invitation from the Government to negotiations made by way of a press release before the INMO was directly contacted about the offer.
The invitation, which was made to discuss staffing levels but not pay, was rebuffed by the INMO, which described it as a ‘cynical’ move.
The Taoiseach said he appreciated the nurses’ unions ‘felt that the offer to engage in further talks at the WRC was discourteous as they heard it through a press release rather than through a letter or direct contact’.
He pledged: ‘We will make sure that does not recur.’ He added: ‘At the same time, we should not forget that tens of thousands of people found out through the media that their respite care was being cancelled this week and that their day care was being cancelled, too.’
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said it was the same script on a different day and strongly criticised the Government for negotiating by press release. ‘This is a very grave dispute and that is pathetic. Has the Taoiseach reprimanded ministers?’