HOPES of averting next Monday's national strike by nurses received a major setback at Labour Court talks last night when the largest nursing union effectively told the court that it could not call off the strike for at least a week.
When representatives of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) were asked by the court if it could defer industrial action and ballot members on new proposals, it is understood to have told the court that, even if a favourable recommendation was forthcoming, the union would have to call a special delegate conference of members. This would take at least a week.
The INO delegation is understood to have told the court that it was bound by procedures agreed at its conference in Limerick, last May.
Neither management nor union representatives were willing to discuss the discussions that took place over five hours in the Labour Court last night.
However, the chief executive of the Health Service Employers Agency, Mr Gerard Barry, in response to questions said that Labour Court's intervention was "the last and only hope of averting a strike on Monday. We haven't abandoned hope yet, we must keep trying".
Union representatives said they were awaiting contact from the court later today.
The court is understood to be seeking additional information from the management side on the cost of meeting some elements of union claims. A group of senior civil servants from the Department of Finance accompanied the management delegation. The Department would have to approve any increased offer.
The nursing unions want a shortening of the staff nurses' pay scale and alignment with the Grade V scale for clerical/administrative staff in the health boards. They also want yearly retirement at 55.
The total cost of these two measures, if conceded in full, is estimated to be around £130 million, on top of the £50 million package already on offer.
In view of the difficulty that has arisen with the INO, which represents two thirds of the State's 26,000 nurses, it is possible, that the court will decide to issue no recommendation ahead of Monday's strike.
It is also possible that it may issue a "process" recommendation - in other words one which will suggest various alternatives for resolving the dispute if the strike goes ahead, rather than adjudicating on the rival submissions.
After hearing formal submissions from both sides when the hearing began at 5 p.m., the chairwoman of the Labour Court, Ms Evelyn Owens, began separate discussions with the two sides shortly before 9 p.m.
Union and management representatives were pessimistic about the chances of averting the strike last night. The chief executive of the Health Service Employers Agency, Mr Gerard Barry, said they faced "a very formidable task", he added that the court's formal intervention in the talks represented a "last chance of averting a strike. I would hope that if the Labour Court issues a recommendation, such a recommendation, with the court's authority, will be accepted".
The general secretary of the INO, Mr P J Madden, said the delegation was there to present its members' case. The last set of proposals had been overwhelmingly rejected and his union could not go beyond that mandate at this time.
Asked if the union would defer strike action if a recommendation was issued. Mr Madden said the INO could not respond in advance of hearing in detail what the court was going to recommend.
Conceding the overall claim would cost £150 million, including early retirement. Increases of this magnitude could only be given by a massive transfer of resources from health service provision to pay. It could also undermine public service pay structures, Partnership 2000 and the public finances.