Nurses 'should reject benchmark exercise'
Nurses should reject a proposed benchmarking exercise and pursue improvements in pay and conditions directly with employers, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said today.
More than 300 members of the INO are meeting at a special delegate conference in Dublin today where they will debate a motion rejecting the terms of reference for the proposed benchmarking body.
Delegates will also discuss the organisation’s ongoing concerns surrounding overcrowding in the country’s A&E wards and to decide on the next phase of its ’Enough is Enough’ campaign to highlight what the union describes as the serious conditions in emergency units.
In addition, nursing staff will be discussing the agreed introduction of healthcare assistants into the system.
General secretary Liam Doran said: “It is the view of our executive council that the proposed benchmarking exercise will not address the outstanding issues of concern to nurses and midwives and we should therefore pursue our legitimate claims directly with health employers.
“In addition, the INO executive does not accept that the terms of reference, as proposed, reflect the priority given to these issues in an earlier Labour Court recommendation.
“In relation to A&E, the country still faces a crisis and the Tánaiste’s 10-point plan has not eased the situation.
“We cannot allow our members, and the patients they care for, to face at least two further years before the situation is addressed.”
Mr Doran said the decisions that would be taken at the conference, held today in Croke Park, would influence the INO’s actions on these critical issues in the short to medium term.
