Irish nurses and midwives protest at hospitals as public sector pay dispute continues

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) held lunchtime protests at hospitals across Ireland on Thursday, 8 October, over delays in agreeing a new public sector pay deal. The demonstrations came as unions rejected the Government’s €1.2 billion Budget allocation as insufficient and public sector strikes remained planned for 14 and 21 October, RTÉ reported. The reporting does not establish attendance figures or identify every hospital involved.

The INMO said its members were protesting over the cost of living and the effect of those pressures on staffing at work. Radio Nova reported that the lunchtime action was scheduled for 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Its report described the planned action ahead of the event; RTÉ subsequently reported that members held protests at hospitals across the country.

Why the public sector pay dispute continues

The previous public sector pay agreement expired at the end of June, according to RTÉ and Radio Nova. Workers across the public sector have engaged in work-to-rule action since the previous week, RTÉ reported. The hospital demonstrations are part of that wider dispute over a replacement agreement, rather than a separate pay negotiation confined to nurses and midwives.

In the Budget announced on Tuesday, 6 October, the Government allocated €1.2 billion for a new public sector pay deal. Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said the provision showed the Government was serious about reaching an agreement. He called on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and other associations to re-engage urgently and stand down the ongoing industrial action, according to RTÉ.

What the dispute could mean for hospital services

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said some outpatient and day services would have to close or be postponed as part of the industrial action, RTÉ reported. She said the Health Service Executive had committed to advising the public in advance and that GPs would need to be informed. The available reports do not identify particular services, hospitals or appointments affected, so patients cannot infer from this warning that a specific appointment has been cancelled.

Ní Sheaghdha also challenged comments by Taoiseach Micheál Martin about workers’ appetite for industrial action. Martin had told Newstalk that his sense was people wanted industrial action regardless of what happened. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said workers had voted in large numbers because they were dissatisfied with the Government’s approach to pay and the cost of living. She called the suggestion that public servants were taking strike action ‘for the fun of it’ inflammatory.

What is planned for 14 and 21 October

Public sector strikes are planned for 14 and 21 October, RTÉ reported. Those dates describe proposed future action, and whether either strike goes ahead depends on developments in the dispute. The Irish Medical Organisation has separately told members it planned industrial action from 14 October, starting with a work-to-rule. It reserved the option of a strike, subject to at least seven days’ notice.

The medical organisation said its position depends on Government commitments both to a new pay agreement and to payment under a local bargaining clause in the previous deal. It said it intended to serve notice on the Health Service Executive and voluntary hospitals. Its notice sets out a separate organisation’s plans; it does not establish that doctors have already joined a strike or that any particular hospital service has closed.

The immediate confirmed development is the INMO’s lunchtime hospital protests on 8 October. The amount of participation, the extent of any service disruption and the outcome of further talks remain unconfirmed in the available reports. The next scheduled public sector action is on 14 October, while patients awaiting outpatient or day services have been told to expect advance information about any changes through the health service, according to the INMO account reported by RTÉ.