Nurses in line for €4,500 allowance hike under €20m windfall for key health workers
NURSES may be in line for a hike of up to €4,500 in their allowances as part of a €20m windfall recommended for key healthcare staff in the budget.
The body that advises the Government on its pay policy has found there is a difficulty retaining some staff, including A&E and theatre nurses and consultant psychiatrists.
It proposes a pay boost for nurses and paves the way for potential increases for consultants who joined since 2012 at ongoing talks on the issue. The report says the gap between their pay and that of longer-serving consultants is “greater than for other categories of public servant”.
But it rules out an across-theboard pay rise that the main nursing union has demanded, concluding there is “no generalised” recruitment and retention problem.
Instead, it recommends that nurses reach the top of their pay scale three years earlier than they do now.
It also recommends a 20pc hike in location and specialist qualification allowances and extending the location allowance to nurses in maternity services, at a cost of €12m to €14m.
Another €4m to €6m should be spent, it says, “to retain experience in the hospitals” by cutting their 20-year pay scale to 17 years.
The pay scale change would benefit nurses and midwives to the tune of €2,200 each a year, equal to €6,600 over the three years.
And the proposed allowance boost would give some nurses an increase worth €279 to
€558 a year. Those working in maternity services would gain €2,300.
However, the leader of the Irish Nursing and Midwives Union, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, hinted at industrial action and warned that members will examine “other alternatives” unless the Government offers a pay rise by September 26. The report also reveals:
■ The average nurse and midwife earned €51,000 last year, including allowances, overtime and other payments.
■ Average pay for junior doctors was more than €74,000, including overtime and other payments.
■ Consultants earned almost €180,000 including overtime and other payments.
It highlights the pay gap between new entrant and longer-serving consultants and suggests talks to “address the difficulty”.
It says the parties to the current Public Service Stability Agreement should consider what “further measures could be taken over time to address the difficulty”.
The commission conceded there is a general difficulty recruiting consultants, in particular specialities such as psychiatry, and also in certain areas of the country.
The decline in doctors applying for jobs is a concern, as is the quality of candidate.
However, due to an absence of detailed and reliable data it could not draw conclusions.
Referring to junior doctors, the report says Ireland produces the highest number of medical graduates in the OECD but has the highest dependence on foreigntrained doctors.
Its research found that training and promotion opportunities are a key influencer of migration and turnover.
The report by the commission, chaired by Kevin Duffy, concluded that pay arrangements are not a significant impediment to recruitment.
Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said public service employers and staff representatives are due to meet within four weeks to discuss implementing the report.
He also faces union demands for equal pay for recent recruits in the budget, which would cost up to €200m.