Harney addresses hostile nurses' meeting

Minister for Health Mary Harney has been warned that the dispute with nurses may be damaging to her and the Government in the upcoming election.

At a special delegate conference of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) in Dublin today, union president Madeline Spiers said nurses and their families hold votes and will use them "judiciously and tactically.

"Our votes are up for sale - I make no bones about it," she said.

Ms Harney addressed the conference and said she hoped the protracted dispute between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the INO and Psychiatric Nurses' Association would not get worse.

She said the only people suffering in the dispute were patients and that procedures were being cancelled every day.

The Minister urged them to use the Government's industrial relations resolution mechanism, the National Implementation Body, and benchmarking to pursue their claim for a 10.6 per cent pay rise and a 35-hour working week.

Ms Harney said she did not believe any party that has been in government and that aspires to be in government again would concede a special pay deal for a group outside the Towards 2016 pay agreement because it "certainly would unravel public pay sector determination.

"No government could risk that," she said. The Minister said there was "no point in pouring money into the system without changing the way we work."

That would not change the problems in the healthcare system, she said, adding that the Government could not "break faith" with other sectors with whom they had entered into agreement in the national pay agreement and benchmarking.

In a sometimes hostile atmosphere, Ms Harney was heckled briefly twice and received no applause when she was introduced by INO general secretary Liam Doran, nor after the speech.

In contrast, INO president Madeline Spiers got a rousing welcome and a standing ovation following her 20-minute speech to several hundred delegates.

Ms Spiers was cheered loudly on several occasions as she spoke to the nurses' delegates about pay issues. She said nurses wanted to be valued for their skills and education.

"Minister, we are tired of getting clapped on the back when there are emergencies and being told 'you're doing a great job' and getting no money for it," she said.

The Government was attempting to privatise the health service and "diminish public services," she claimed. She compared her own salary of €44,000 per year to the Minister's of €220,000. "You will never meet a rich nurse," said Ms Spiers.

On the matter of "value for money" in the health service, Ms Spiers said: "There is no point in looking at the price of everything and the value of nothing, and that's what this Minister unfortunately does."

Addressing the conference this afternoon, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said there were a number of areas worth pursuing to secure a breakthrough.

He said a "seldom used" provision of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 provided that, where a Minister is of the opinion that a trade dispute was of "special importance", he or she could request an inquiry into the dispute by the Labour Court, Labour Relations Commission or another body.

"I believe it is time to invoke this provision to help end this dispute. It is time to appoint a person, acceptable to both sides, to examine the issues and find their way around the roadblock as a matter of urgency," Mr Kenny said.

He suggested that setting a date in early 2008 for a "significant reduction" in the nurses' working week from 39 hours could move the process on.

Mr Kenny also favoured a reformed benchmarking process with "greater transparency and greater rigour".

"This dispute must end, and it will end. The only matter to be resolved is whether or not the Government are playing their part in responding creatively to the reforms and proposals put forward by the nursing unions. The answer today is a resounding no. With Fine Gael in Government that answer will become an unqualified yes."

Mr Kenny pledged that, in government, he would invite INO representatives to his office within the first week of his office and "personally chair the first round of negotiations".

Labour Party health spokeswoman Liz McManus told the nurses she knew they were angry.

"If I were you, I would be angry too. You are in the middle of an industrial dispute, with no end in sight. The employer side seems to want to ratchet things up, rather than move towards a settlement. The decision to dock your pay cheques is one which is particularly inflammatory. It will make your dispute harder, not easier to settle."

Ms McManus said Labour believes a timeframe should now be agreed for the phasing-in of the 35-hour week in return for "necessary changes in hospital practices".

"I believe that if this were done, it could well open the way to a resolution of the nurses pay claim through existing machinery."

She understood nurses had concerns about benchmarking but this was "not beyond remedy".

"I believe that if we decouple the two issues, progress can be made, and we can get back to what we all want to be doing - working with patients and improving the health service."

Speaking to reporters after she left the event in a Dublin hotel, Ms Harney said she had not expected to receive a warm welcome. "I wasn't expecting a standing ovation - I was told not to expect that. So clearly nothing surprised me.

"I think it's important that the Minister for Health should come and speak to the delegates in an honest and straightforward fashion - I don't believe in doing it any other way.

"I don't believe anybody responsible in my job either now or after the election would do things any differently," Ms Harney said.

"The Government have entered into a pay agreement with other public servants and the wider workforce, and as a matter of honour, the Government has to stand by that agreement. We cannot unravel public sector pay policy."

Ms Harney said the economy had been so successful because of responsible actions by Government and that if that was put at risk "our whole economic future is jeopardised".

"I don't think the people of Ireland would want to see that in the context of the election."

The nurses have been continuing a work-to-rule and have staged a series of work stoppages. Tomorrow, three-hour work stoppages will be staged at eight hospitals in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Sligo.

The HSE has given nurses until 5.30pm today to call off their work-to-rule or face a 13 per cent pay-cut.

The INO held a private session until 3pm at Jury's Hotel, Ballsbridge, before the delegates were addressed by politicians, including Mr Kenny, Ms McManus, Caoimhghín  Ó Caoláin, Joe Higgins, John Gormley and a representative from Fianna Fáil.