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Members of the INMO have voted in favor of strike action by 95% over staff recruitment and retention.<\/p>\nMembers of the INMO have voted in favor of strike action by 95% over staff recruitment and retention.<\/p>\n
The executive will meet next month to decide when to go on strike.<\/p>\n
This would be only the second time in the INMO\u2019s hundred-year history that its members have taken national strike action.<\/p>\n
Nurses and midwives last engaged in strike action two decades ago in 1999.<\/p>\n
INMO General Secretary Phil N\u00ed Sheaghdha said: \u201cIreland\u2019s nurses and midwives are speaking with one clear voice.<\/p>\n
“This vote reflects a deep frustration in our professions, which the government cannot continue to ignore.<\/p>\n
Nurses and midwives simply want to do their jobs and care for patients properly. But low pay has led to staff shortages, compromising safe care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland\u2019s current haphazard approach to nurse staffing is costly and bad for patient care, as confirmed by the Minister for Health\u2019s own nursing taskforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
INMO President Martina Harkin-Kelly said: \u201cI don\u2019t know a single nurse or midwife who wants to strike. We just want to get on with the job we love, but staff shortages have made that impossible. We\u2019ve reached a breaking point.<\/p>\n
\u201cNurses and midwives are united. We\u2019re standing up for safe staffing, fair pay, and for our patients, who deserve better care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for Government to listen to frontline voices and fix this problem once and for all.”<\/p>\n