Nurses and midwives back Lansdowne Road Agreement

Nurses and midwives have voted overwhelming in favour of the revised Lansdowne Road Agreement on public pay and pensions, in spite of reservations over salary and staffing.

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) voted 71 per cent in favour of the agreement following nationwide consultation, the union has said.

Nurses who attended consultation meetings regarded the level of pay restoration in the agreement – an average of 4.5 per cent for a staff nurse or midwife over two years – as “very minimal” compared with the “draconian” cuts imposed over the past six years, according to the organisation.

Under the proposed deal, most public service personnel will receive an increase in earnings of about €2,000 in three phases between January 2016 and September 2017.

The organisation called on Minister for Health Leo Varadkar to reward nurses' pay moderation by moving actively to recruit frontline staff for the health service.

An additional 4,000 nurses and midwives should be employed in the shortest possible timeframe by means of an active and dynamic recruitment campaign, the union said.

The agreement, which has already been backed by large unions such as Siptu and Impact, is expected to be ratified by the overall public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in late September.

Low morale

INMO General secretary Liam Doran said it was clear from the meetings that morale in the health service remained very low.

“Members told us, repeatedly, that, although accepting the terms of the agreement, they viewed the measures, with regard to pay restoration, as being very small and the absolute minimum that was required.

“This agreement will now be accepted, and the Government is getting certainty with regard to pay. It must, therefore, acknowledge this commitment of nurses and midwives by actively recruiting, with dynamic incentives, to attract our recently emigrated nurses and midwives back to this country, as an absolute priority.”

The union had urged its members to vote in favour of the agreement.