The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has today welcomed a recommendation that working time in the public service should be restored to pre-Haddington Road Agreement levels from the 1st of July 2022.
This comes as the Independent Body Examining Additional Working Hours chaired by Kieran Mulvey has sent recommendations on working hours for civil and public servants to the Minister for Public Expenditure as agreed under the Building Momentum Public Service Agreement.
INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
The recommendation by the independently chaired hours body is one that will benefit the retention of nurses and midwives. The additional hours have disproportionately impacted our largely female workforce. The additional hours have pushed many nurses and midwives into part-time work due to the additional pressure that was put on caring responsibilities.
We know that since 2013 the addition of unpaid hours have had a considerable negative impact on the morale, and the retention of nurses and midwives within the public health service.
Today’s recommendation is a significant step in addressing this key issue under the Building Momentum Agreement. INMO members voted to accept the agreement and its full implementation now will pave the way for new public service agreement negotiations to begin later this year.
The INMO, along with other unions that represent public and civil servants, is confident that the return to pre-Haddington Road hours can be achieved without an excessive additional cost to the exchequer or damage the output of our public sector.
INMO President, Karen McGowan added:
The INMO Executive has welcomed the recommendations made by the Independent Body Examining Additional Working Hours. Nurses and midwives will be watching the handling of this recommendation by the Government closely.
Nurses and midwives have gone above and beyond since 2013 when the additional working time was introduced. Their dedication and goodwill have often held our public health system together at very trying times, especially over the past two years.
As higher earners in the public service are due to receive pay restoration in July 2022, it is only right that additional hours worked by nurses and midwives are restored to pre-2013 levels in tandem.