As some 40,000 nurses prepare to vote on a phased programme of industrial action over pay and conditions, Minister for Health Mary Harney yesterday said a recent recommendation from the Labour Court on the issue "leaves the door open" for some changes in nurses' working hours.
However, she said this would have to involve other healthcare professionals.
Over 900 members of the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Association gathered at the Helix theatre in Dublin City University yesterday to hear plans for a national ballot of members, to take place next January, seeking a mandate for industrial action.
Nurses and midwives are seeking a pay rise of 10.6 per cent and a 35-hour working week, and say they are willing to facilitate significant changes to their role if this is approved. But the Labour Court has dismissed their claims, which it said would have to be pursued through benchmarking.
If approved, industrial action would include lunch-hour protests, work to rule, and labour withdrawal. The unions say they will provide emergency cover if industrial action occurs but insist members be paid for this.
Brendan Mulligan, of the Health Service Executive employers' agency, said he hoped industrial action could be avoided but warned employers could not be expected to pay nurses for emergency cover if notice of industrial action was served.
The result of the members' ballot will be announced on February 1st.
Ms Harney said yesterday: "Hours of work involve pay. And I think in the recent recommendation from the Labour Court, it did leave the door open for some changes in relation to hours of work, but it said that would have to be done in a wider context involving other healthcare professionals. And I very much support that.
"Nurses account for 35 per cent of our workforce in the healthcare system and clearly any industrial dispute would militate against patients in particular.
"My door and that of the Government and the HSE is open to having meaningful discussions around change. Changing work patterns, greater flexibility, a better skill mix . . . we are more than happy to engage in fruitful dialogue on that agenda."
However, David Hughes, INO assistant general secretary, said while it would be interested in anything Ms Harney had to say regarding working hours, this on its own would "not be enough".