IOL, September 15, 2006 Thousands of psychiatric nurses have voted for industrial action over “broken promises” on a compensation scheme for staff assaulted at work, it was announced today. The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) and SIPTU have issued the Department of Health and Children with notice of the action within three weeks. “We are not ruling out a complete withdrawal of labour such is the annoyance over this issue,” said Seamus Murphy, Industrial Relations Officer with PNA. ... Psychiatric

Special Conference Resolves New Social Partnership Programme Will Only Be Considered When Nurse/Midwife Pay Issues Are Addressed. Irish Nurses Organisation, September 1, 2006 Delegates at today’s INO special delegate conference voted unanimously to direct the Organisation’s General Secretary to inform the Irish Congress of Trade Unions that the INO will not be attending the ICTU special delegate conference, scheduled for next Tuesday, which will vote upon the proposed new Social Partnership Agreement “TOWARDS 2016”. ... INO

Ian McGuinness, Irish Medical Times, July 26, 2006 Psychiatric hospitals, units and the Mental Health Tribunals could be hit by the first national strike by psychiatric nurses since 1980. The Psychiatric Nurses Association is balloting its 5,000 members on industrial action, up to an including the possibility of strike action, because of what it claims is the failure of health service management to provide a financial redress scheme for nurses injured at work. ... Psychiatric

Irish Examiner, July 4, 2006

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) today warned the Government its 6,000 members will go on strike unless they get adequate compensation for injuries they suffer at work.

As a deal on benefits for workers who have been physically attacked and psychologically traumatised is finalised, the PNA threatened immediate action if it was satisfactory.

A formal offer is to be made to the PNA at a conciliation conference tomorrow but the union’s general secretary Des Kavanagh insisted members were prepared for the worst. ... Psychiatric

Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, June 20, 2006

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been ordered to pay €20,000 to four nurses who complained their roster reduced the time they could spend with their children and the opportunity to breast feed.

Psychiatric nurses Tara O’Donnell, Jacqueline Stewart, Joanne McTeigue and Margaret McKenna, who work for the HSE North West, are to receive €5,000 compensation each after the Equality Tribunal found their roster indirectly discriminated against them on grounds of gender. ... Nurses

RTE News, June 20, 2006

The Labour Court has begun hearing claims by two nursing unions for improved pay and conditions.

The Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association are seeking a pay increase of over 10%, a 35-hour week and a special allowance for nurses working in Dublin.

Going into today's hearing, Dave Hughes of the INO said Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney's recent rejection of the nurses' legitimate grievances was unacceptable.

Seamus Murphy of the PNA said nurses' pay was 20% behind paramedic grades. ... Labour

Paul Kelly, Irish Examiner, June 15, 2006 Hospital managers are set to take advantage of looming jobs losses in Britain’s National Health Service and entice nurses to come to work in Ireland. Around 15,000 nursing jobs in England alone face the axe as health trusts, running public hospitals and clinics, seek to clear millions of pounds of debt. Now, hospitals in Ireland, Australia and the US which are all recruiting in Britain, could get bumper interest from nurses uncertain over their future. ... Hospitals

Irish Health, June 14, 2006

More than 1,200 nurses took part in a rally in Dublin today to protest about their pay and conditions.

The event, which has been organised by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), took place in the Helix at Dublin City University.

INO President Madeline Spiers warned that nurses will not accept a rejection of their claim for more pay and shorter working hours.

Nurses, the meeting was told, are exhausted and demoralised. ... Nurses

Irish Medical News, June 12, 2006

Talks were continuing, when writing, on the modernisation and change programme for the health services as part of the national pay talks with employers and unions, including the IMO, IMPACT, INO and SIPTU.

Similar discussions are taking place throughout the rest of the public service after agreement was reached on proposed pay increases for public servants, totalling 10 per cent, according to the IMO. ... Modernisation

SIPTU, May 16, 2006

SIPTU Nursing has begun an extensive consultation process with its members throughout Ireland as part of its preparations for its submission to the Benchmarking Review Body.

“In order to deliver a comprehensive submission to the Benchmarking Body we believe it is essential that we communicate with as many nurses as possible so we can identify key issues of concern to the nursing profession,” explained SIPTU’s National Nursing Official, Miriam McCluskey. ... SIPTU

RTE, May 11, 2006

Members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association have voted unanimously at their AGM in Cavan to hold an immediate ballot for industrial action on the issue of assaults on nurses.

They say their employer, the Department of Health, has reneged on its responsibility towards them and they are entitled to respond.

The vote comes after figures released today showed that assaults on psychiatric nurses have increased by almost 50% in the past four years. ... Psychiatric

UTV, May 11, 2006

Nurses in Northern Ireland must be fully protected by the smoking ban when it is introduced next spring, a union has claimed.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said staff in mental health services and care homes should not be exposed to the potentially fatal effects of second-hand smoke. It has expressed concerns about possible loopholes which could allow difficult patients to smoke. ... Nurses

RTE News, May 4, 2006

The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has again rejected demands by nurses for pay rises and a reduction in working hours.

She was speaking after 350 delegates at the Irish Nurses Organisation's annual conference in Cavan unanimously passed an emergency motion seeking the claims.

Ms Harney rejected the plans, saying they would cost €1.5 billion to implement. The Tánaiste has said that benchmarking is the proper way to deal with the nurses' demands.

The minister has been criticised for not addressing the conference and tomorrow nurses will discuss a vote of no confidence in her. ... Harney

Pat Brosnan, Irish Examiner, March 31, 2006

Doesn't time fly? Not so long ago, the A&E issue was hardly a little crisis in Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney's eye. A year and a half later, it has grown up to become a fully-blown national emergency.

It is the first time in the history of this present coalition, or the one before it, that a national emergency has been declared.

When Ms Harney insisted on taking over the health portfolio - or rather, fiasco - in the Cabinet mini-reshuffle just over 18 months ago, she believed she had a crisis on her hands. ... We've known

Paul O'Brien, Irish Examiner, March 30, 2006

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern struggled to defend the Government's record on the health services yesterday following Tánaiste Mary Harney's admission that the A&E crisis constituted a national emergency.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that in some of the world's poorest countries, such as Peru, people had to bring their own drugs to hospital. Of the Irish situation, he added: "In a country that is knee-deep in financial wealth, it appears that people here need to bring a bed or chair to a hospital." ... A&E