Angry nurses gave Minister for Health Mary Harney a cool reception when she attended the annual conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in Trim this afternoon.
A number of delegates accosted her as she left the conference centre about the lack of jobs for the more than 1,000 nurses who will be graduating this year as well as the recruitment embargo, which they claim is crippling services.
Earlier INMO president Sheila Dickson made it clear to Ms Harney that nurses were not happy about how they have been treated by the Government.
Despite the fact that nurses had contributed in no way to the current difficulties the Government had seen fit to cut their pay on two occasions over the past year, she said.
“At the same time the same government has steadfastly refused to require others, with much greater means, assets and wealth than any of us here, to pay anything like their fair share,” said Ms Dickson.
“None of us underestimates the scale of the problems that we now face. Although many of us may work in the public sector, a category of worker that, in the past 18 months, has been vilified, criticised, demeaned and insulted by the “know it alls” that populate the media in this country, we all live in families that have encountered unemployment, that understand what short-time working means and readily understand what it is like to be worried about the mortgage, our children’s future and, fundamentally, our access to quality healthcare.
"People in this room, Minister, are public servants providing a great service to the communities in which we live. In the past 12-18 months your Government has shown a lack of respect for, and a complete inability to listen to, all of us and this cannot continue,” she added.
Ms Dickson also criticised Ms Harney for regularly stating the country already had too many nurses and midwives. While nursing posts remained vacant as a result of the recruitment embargo, the HSE seems able to fill senior general management posts immediately, she said.
The INMO president received sustained applause and standing ovations at several points during her speech, in sharp contrast to the near silence which greeted Ms Harney’s address.
The Minister stressed to the conference that the country is going through a very painful period.
Asked afterwards about the cool reception she received she said: “Look, nurses are angry. Public servants generally are angry with the cut backs in pay and the pension levy and also of course the moratorium. It’s not an easy time for Government or for public servants. A lot of people are enduring huge pain across this economy because we are spending €20 billion a year more than we are making and therefore unfortunately we have had to have cutbacks”.
She welcomed the Impact union’s decision to recommend acceptance of the Croke Park pay deal. She stressed there was “no plan B”, despite a recommendation by the INMO to its members to reject the deal. She said the Croke park agreement was “the best I believe we can do” and everyone needed to reflect on that.
She also welcomed the fact that the INMO were not talking about increased industrial action despite its recommendation to members to reject the pay proposals.