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Health and Garda issues loom large for Government

Inside Politics: Nurses’ union INMO announces industrial action to start on March 7th

Liam Doran addressing members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation last year. The union has announced industrial action will start on March 7th. Photograph: The Irish Times

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Pat Leahy
Thu Feb 9 2017 - 08:22

The Government is preoccupied with Brexit (and so it should be). Like the rest of us, Ministers watch half goggled-eyed at the reality TV show in Washington.

But the short-term political fortunes of the Government are more tied up with the immediate problems in the health service and in the gardaí. The two big stories this morning bear that out.

The nurses union, the INMO, last night announced industrial action would begin on March 7th and escalate thereafter.

Martin Wall's page one piece this morning says the action will close beds and cut services, following the nurses' rejection of Government proposals to recruit more nurses and keep the ones it has.

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This is part of a wider squeeze on the Government on public sector pay. Industrial action is now threatened right across the health service and right across the State-owned transport sector.

Elsewhere, teachers’ union the ASTI is limbering up.

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm has settled across the broader public sector as the Public Sector Pay Commission continues its work.

The Government hopes that by bringing forward the spring pay rises for public servants that were not due until the autumn, it can ensure industrial peace for the rest of the year. Optimistic, to say the least of it.

The unions know the Government has some spare cash. Just as importantly, they know it might not have any spare cash next year if a Brexit or Trumpian slowdown hits tax receipts.

The nurses' chief, Liam Doran, rejected suggestions the dispute was about pay (though, as Martin reports, he confirms nurses have sought the restoration of a range of allowances abolished previously).

And it is true the disputes are not just about money. Certainly the arguments are always made in terms of patient service and safety.

But some of it is about money. It always is.

Following the revelations of the extent of the waiting lists earlier this week - and the suffering that many people, including children, were enduring while waiting for treatment - a fresh bout of national self-flagellation about the state of the health service has ensued.

In the main, this has followed the same pattern as the many previous similar episodes.

Everyone gives out about the Government (whoever it is). The Government says it is sorry. The media reports the shortcomings of the service in technicolour detail, emphasising individual stories. Various parts of the health service use the opportunity to seek more money. Everyone agrees something will have to be done. You can guess the rest.

Perhaps today’s three hours of statements on waiting lists will yield some new ideas. But I would not bet on it.

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