Nurses’ strike talks collapse without resolution

Talks between the INMO and the HSE and Department of Health at the Workplace Relations Commission collapsed without resolution tonight (Friday).  The government produced no proposals over the course of three days of talks to deal with the recruitment and retention crisis in Irish nursing and midwifery.
 
Preparations for a national nurses and midwives’ strike on the 30th of January continue. This would be only the second time in the INMO’s hundred-year history that nurses or midwives go on strike.
 
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

Ireland’s nurses and midwives are asking simple questions. Where is the Taoiseach? Where is the Minister for Finance? There is a vacuum of political leadership.
 
The largest strike in the health service’s history looms and our political leaders are nowhere to be seen.
 
With a heavy heart, strike preparations continue. As ever, we are available to talk any time, but we are still waiting for the government to make realistic proposals to avert this strike.