THE countdown to the national nurses' strike starts on Thursday. This is the day the Irish Nurses Organisation will meet the Health Services Employers' Agency to agree what "essential services" will be in operation when the nurses strike on February 10th.
There were no moves at the weekend to open talks in the long running, bitter dispute, but the Fianna Fail spokeswoman on health, Ms Maire Geoghegan Quinn, urged the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, to take steps to avert the strike.
A spokesman for the INO said it expected to open talks on Thursday about the provision of essential services. "There is only one item down for discussion at the meeting - the discussion of essential services during the duration of the strike."
It is understood that accident and emergency departments and intensive care units will be fully staffed. However, all out patient and elective surgery will cease from February 10th.
The INO has sanctioned the strike by its 16,000 members in 140 hospitals throughout the Republic.
In an RTE radio interview yesterday, Mrs Geoghegan Quinn said the Government had underestimated the feelings of the nurses who felt they had been let down over the years. They felt they had made a huge contribution to society and now felt betrayed.
She said the Minister should not have adopted the stance of "thus far and no further". Mr Noonan had made a major mistake by refusing the suggestion of SIPTU that a commission be set up to deal with nurses.
She believed the nurses' contribution should be recognised and their aspirations for pay and conditions met.
Mr Noonan has expressed his disappointment at the nurses' decision and says it would cost nearly £150 million to meet their demands. However, the INO has disputed the Minister's figure and wants him to substantiate it. It believes it is an amount he has "plucked out of the air".