Over 90% of adults in Ireland are now vaccinated – an incredible testament to the work of nurses and midwives across Ireland.
The INMO’s work is continuing, with four key updates below.
1. COVID compensation for healthcare workers
As part of the ongoing campaign for COVID compensation, we have partnered with other health sector unions and created a simple survey to demonstrate the strength of members’ feelings. The survey results will be used to help our ongoing public campaign.
The survey takes less than two minutes to complete (it has eight simple questions)
The Labour Court will hear our claim on this issue next Monday 13th September. The INMO and other health sector unions will put forward arguments to support this claim on your behalf at that forum. Once we have a recommendation from that hearing we will immediately advise members, in the meantime it is hugely helpful if members lobby the political parties in government in respect of this issue.
2. Pre-Budget Submission
The 2022 Budget is fast approaching. The INMO has been lobbying the government to ensure adequate funding is allocated for nursing and midwifery development and implementation of agreements. To that end, our pre-budget submission has today been issued to the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure. It has also been copied to spokespersons for the finance and health of the opposition parties.
Key points include:
- Funding for the Sláintecare reforms, and dealing with the implications of resignations of senior Sláintecare personnel (Laura Magahy and Prof. Tom Keane) this week;
- A single source of funding for the care of the elderly;
- Increased funding for extra undergrad nursing and midwifery places;
- Support for addition HDU and ICU beds;
- Fully funded workforce planning for the HSE;
- Tax and spending changes to address housing, climate, gambling, and childhood obesity.
3. October pay changes
Your pay is increasing on 1 October 2021. As part of the Building Momentum agreement which members supported, all salaries will increase by 1%. If a 1% increase would be worth less than €500 a year in basic pay, then your increase will be topped up to €500.
This means that everyone will get at least a €500 annual basic pay increase. The same will happen in 2022, in addition to increases in nurse and midwife manager pay, following the 2019 strike. Once we have further details on this last point, we will update you.
As ever, if you are experiencing difficulties at work or have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the INMO.