‘Not acceptable’ that nurses are facing delays getting their pay rises, Donnelly tells INMO

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has told nurses it is “not acceptable” that they face delays getting pay rises other public servants have already received.

During a speech at the annual conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) yesterday, he said he was aware of the frustration of nurses who may not get a pay rise that is backdated to January until June or July.

He said the situation had a “similar feel” to the length of time it took for frontline health workers to get the special Covid pandemic bonus of up to €1,000.

“Whilst it is welcome, I am aware of the frustrations in the health service, very understandable frustrations, in how long it is taking to be paid,” he said.

“So yes, it will be back-paid, which is fine, but that’s of little comfort to people who are waiting for the payment, particularly when you see it being paid in other parts of the public service. The delay is not acceptable.

“I had a similar frustration to the delay in giving everyone the €1,000 through Covid, which turned what was a positive gesture into a source of frustration for people who quite frankly had to wait too long for it. And this has a similar feel to it.”

He said it was encouraging to see that public servants will get a pay increase of more than 10pc over the next twoand-a-half years under the new public service agreement.

Mr Donnelly committed to take the issue up directly with the HSE and tell it that everything must be done to expedite the payments.

The minister denied other politicians’ claims that a review into emergency services in the mid-west announced on Thursday was an election stunt.

“I’m not interested in what some election candidate is saying,” he said. “What I’m interested in is what patients are saying, what their families are saying and what our frontline healthcare professionals are saying.

“We’re seeing more and more hospitals now, like Waterford, like Tullamore, get down to either no patients on trolleys or very, very few patients on trolleys and our aim is to achieve that in all hospitals.

“In spite of a big reduction in the number of patients on trolleys so far this year, Limerick in particular is standing out as not only not achieving a reduction but it has had a very big increase in the number of patients on trolleys, and really it’s because of that increase over the last number of months that I have kicked off a review of urgent and emergency care in the mid-west region.”

Mr Donnelly said more investment has gone into UHL than any other hospital in the country in recent years.

“Unfortunately, while other hospitals have managed to use investment to reduce the trolley numbers, it’s going the wrong way in Limerick,” he said.

He said it is time for Hiqa to ask is there a case for a second emergency department in the region.

Richard Curran: We must ask whether we’re getting value for money from surge in state spending. Page 30

“I am aware of the frustrations in the health service in how long it is taking to be paid”