Nurses are expected to strike next month after rejecting a £100 million Labour Court pay offer.
A strike is likely to take place on October 19th, and the nurses' unions are seeking a meeting with health service managers to discuss emergency cover.
The four nursing unions are expected to receive an overwhelming mandate for industrial action following yesterday's rejection of the Labour Court award by more than 90 per cent of their members.
The general secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation, Mr Liam Doran, indicated last night that if pay parity with paramedics could be conceded to staff nurses this might provide a basis for a settlement of the dispute. But the chief executive of the Health Services Employers' Agency (HSEA), Mr Gerard Barry, said that conceding the demand would add another £120 million to the cost of the rejected award.
Some 95 per cent of INO members voted to reject the Labour Court award, along with 94 per cent of Psychiatric Nurses' Association members and 93 per cent of SIPTU members. In IMPACT, the only union which did not recommend rejection of the award, 86 per cent of members voted against acceptance.
The INO, which is the largest nurses' union, begins balloting members for strike action next Tuesday. All the unions will have strike ballots concluded by October 11th, when notice will probably be served on the Government and HSEA, allowing for a strike from October 19th.
The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, called on nurses "to think very carefully before voting for strike action. Not only is such action in direct breach of the industrial peace clause of Partnership 2000, it also endangers the entire national partnership approach."
He added that the Government was committed to paying the Labour Court award, which includes ongoing increases of £60 million. He said it would raise the maximum ward sisters' pay by more than 37 per cent to £27,522, compared to their 1997 earnings. The maximum for staff nurses would rise by almost 26 per cent over the same period, plus extra allowance payments.
"I would ask nurses once again to look at the entire package of measures," Mr Cowen said. "There is no possibility of improving on the terms of the Labour Court recommendation."
SIPTU's national nursing officer, Mr Oliver McDonagh, said: "Nurses are not expecting any 11th-hour intervention. They are prepared to go all the way on this, although we will remain available for talks if required."
Some 28,000 nurses are employed in the public health services. If the strike goes ahead all hospitals, health centres and services provided by public health nurses will be affected. Strike committees will arrange emergency cover in areas such as accident and emergency, intensive care and operating services. However, as there has never been a national strike, it remains unclear how long the health service can survive on such cover.