THE Labour Court is expected to decide today if it will intervene in the nurses' dispute. Exploratory talks begun with unions and health managers yesterday are to continue this morning.
The chairman of the Labour Court, Ms Evelyn Owens, has asked representatives on both sides to remain "on standby" in the event that she convenes a full Labour Court hearing.
The nurses are due to begin their first national strike in the health services on Monday. Today, hospitals and health boards have begun placing advertisements in national newspapers, detailing services which will be affected if the strike takes place.
The State's largest health board, the Eastern Health Board, says in notices published in today's newspapers that only emergency services will be provided. There will be "severe disruption, curtailment and deferral of certain services, including planned admissions and attendances at all hospitals", it says.
As expected, the EHB has confirmed that non-emergency admissions and outpatient services will be cancelled. Telephone inquiries and community services will be severely curtailed.
The EHB is advising patients with minor injuries or ailments to attend their family doctors to ease the severe pressure that will come on accident and emergency departments in general hospitals.
Management representatives are to attend the Labour Court again at 8.30 a.m. today to provide additional information requested by Ms Owens, which relates to the cost of meeting additional demands by the unions, which have already rejected a £50 million package from the Government.
Although yesterday's hearings were only exploratory, they were attended by a full hearing of the court. As well as Ms Owens, Mr Barney Rorke, a union nominee to the court, and Mr Patrick Pierce, an employer nominee, attended.
All will be fully briefed in the event that the court decides to intervene formally. Ms Owens will invoke Section 26.5 of the Industrial Relations Act if she feels there is a possibility that formal intervention can succeed.
Under Section 26.5, she can hold a hearing into a dispute if she believes it is in the public interest, and she can then issue a recommendation aimed at settling it. However, such a recommendation is not binding.
The purpose of the present hearings is to determine if the gap between the two sides is bridgeable and if they will both accept her findings.
One of the major imponderables is whether the main nursing union, the Irish Nurses Organisation, can persuade its members to accept an improved offer, even if it is recommended by the union leadership. Such is the strength of feeling among many nurses that some local strike committees are still resisting efforts to make them comply with the levels of emergency service agreed at national negotiations between unions and management.
Meanwhile, the INO yesterday unveiled the poster it will use for a publicity campaign if the strike goes ahead. The poster shows three nurses and a patient at the Meath Hospital in Dublin. Underneath is a caption which reads: "Under stress, Underpaid, Undervalued Nurses. They've cared for us. Let's care for them".
The poster will go on 100 billboards around the country. The campaign is understood to be costing about £30,000.
Unlike the other nursing unions, the INO has no strike pay. It, will be depending on publicity and effective strike action to win the dispute in the shortest possible time.
Today, Ms Owens will have to assess if there is an adequate basis to persuade the INO to adopt an alternative strategy.