Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation working in the public service have voted overwhelmingly (95.6%) in favour of industrial action following a six-week, in-person ballot.
Nurses and midwives were balloted on the non-filling and delayed filling of vacant and suppressed posts. Over 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts were left unfilled in the public health system at the end of 2023.
INMO President Caroline Gourley said:
INMO members have sent a clear message to the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health that nurses and midwives are no longer willing to accept pausing the hiring of much-needed safety critical staff in a weak attempt to balance the books.
All autonomy has been stripped from directors of nursing and midwifery to recruit additional nurses and midwives, yet they are the ones who are expected to ensure a safe service.
We cannot wait any longer, patients deserve a properly staffed health service that is not constantly dogged by crisis after crisis.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
The INMO Executive Council, made up of working nurses and midwives, will now consider this outcome. Over the next two weeks, we will liaise with other health sector trade unions who have balloted their members to decide on a united approach.
Our members are often the first point of contact many sick people have with the public health system. In turn, they have to bear the brunt of the public’s rightful frustration with the overcrowding crisis and long waiting lists that are exacerbated by short staffing.
One of the first priorities of the next Government must be to solve the staffing issues that exist right across the public sector.