Siptu nursing convention:Minister for Health Mary Harney yesterday stressed that benchmarking was the "only way forward" in the dispute over nurses' pay and conditions, and she insisted the current dispute was causing suffering to patients.
She said yielding to the Irish Nurses' Organisation's demands would cost "7.7 million hours, or require another 4,000 nurses at a cost of €250 million". She added that the claims had been rejected by the Labour Court and the National Implementation Body.
Unlike Siptu and Impact, the INO and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association, whose members have been carrying out work stoppages around the country, have rejected the benchmarking process.
Addressing the Siptu convention, Ms Harney praised members' participation in benchmarking, emphasising her belief that it rewarded civil servants in a meaningful manner.
Siptu leaders agreed with the Minister that there could be no meaningful discussions outside of benchmarking on issues of concern to nurses "that do not involve all nursing unions". At the start of the three-day conference, Siptu national nursing organiser Louise O'Reilly said "meaningful" discussions would only happen within benchmarking and she pledged that "whenever and wherever" they took place, Siptu would be there.
Ms O'Reilly told more than 200 delegates that the nursing branch of Siptu had already made a case for "reward and recognition" of nurses and midwives based on the benchmarking process.
It had sought to establish the basis for a recruitment and retention bonus for nurses working in areas where recruitment and retention were problematical. She believed the union had already justified these claims.
She said the Siptu position was based on the delivery of quality public health services.
However, on health service reform, she claimed health service employers did not want nurses to be organised. "The HSE has plans for the Irish health service and it would suit them if nurses are not organised."
Referring to recently published research showing that one in five nurses working in accident and emergency units has been subjected to sexual intimidation and assault by patients, Ms O'Reilly said: "Nurses and healthcare workers cannot be expected to tolerate abuse and violence from the very people they are trying to help.
"Aggression against nurses and other healthcare workers is simply unacceptable and the HSE should do more to protect staff against violence in the workplace."
On psychiatric services, she said the Vision for Change document published last year gave cause for concern, as it would have resulted in a decrease in the number of nurses at that grade.
"In the 1980s the trade unions warned the Government against cutting back on the numbers of psychiatric nurse training places. We predicted the such cut-backs would lead to very serious social problems. We were right: we now have a growing and unmet need for mental health services for children; more young people self-harming; and the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse can be seen in all our psychiatric wards."