THE Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, along with public sector trade union Fórsa, have today served notice of industrial action to the Health Service Executive.
The move – which HSE Chief Executive Bernard Gloster described as ‘regrettable’ – comes in the wake of an ongoing row about staff shortages, post suppression, and a perceived lack of employment progression within the health service.
Following a three-week notice period, the scheduled action will take place on 31 March. It will initially manifest in work-to-rule and other non-cooperation actions.
In the event that the HSE cannot negotiate a settlement, the unions have stated that action may escalate to work stoppages and strike days.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “INMO members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action last November to send a clear message to the HSE that moratoriums and severely restricting the recruitment of patient-facing posts is in breach of many safe staffing agreements between healthcare unions and the HSE.
“[Nurses and midwives] on the frontline are crying out for support, and they feel ignored. Instead of additional staff, they are being faced with recruitment embargoes and needless administrative obstacles.”
Meanwhile, Fórsa's Head of Health and Welfare Ashley Connolly said in a statement: “Ireland’s population is growing and it is also an ageing population. These factors demand a more robust approach to workforce planning in our health service.”
For his part, HSE CEO Bernard Gloster told RTÉ’s Today programme that the planned action ‘falls outside the Public Service Agreement which gives us stability’. He said that the HSE will hire 6,800 more people before the end of 2025, adding that the organisation’s Pay and Numbers strategy has stabilised workforce numbers.
“The cut-off date was on 31 December 2023, [and] on that date as in any day in the health service, you could be carrying somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 routine vacancies,” he said.
“On the one hand, some of the unions would argue ‘well, they’re lost’, but on the other side of that, on the cut-off date, we were carrying 4,000 unfunded posts, which Government have now funded.
“There is room within all of those posts as people come and go, to reprioritise, to address any of the pressures and imbalances and any of the concerns that are there.”
