UNIONS REPRESENTING staff in the public sector who provide around-the-clock services are to hold talks on a common approach to oppose any Government cuts to out-of-hours premium payments and allowances.
The Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) said yesterday that it would be an active participant in talks across public service unions on any initiative to protect the income of essential public servants, providing essential public services, on a 24/7 basis.
Among the groups that provide full-time services in the public sector are gardaí, prison officers, doctors and air traffic controllers.
The Irish Times understands that the Health Service Executive is looking at the potential for cuts in the €1 billion it pays out to staff in variable or non-core pay, comprising premium rates and allowances. The HSE has been asked by the Department of Health to draw up plans for cuts of up to €800 million in its budget for next year.
The move by the unions also follows comments made by the Minister for Health Mary Harney on Monday that if the HSE could not identify €400 million in savings by reducing staff numbers in line with the proposals in the McCarthy report, “then issues arise as to whether salary reductions will have to be contemplated”.
It is understood that unions and bodies representing some of the groups providing around-the-clock services are to meet next week.
Meanwhile yesterday, both the INO and the trade union Impact, which represents mainly administrative and professional staff in the health sector, warned of industrial action if pay cuts were imposed.
Impact said its members could not afford further reductions in pay, while the INO said it would oppose any attack on its members’ current earnings, including allowances or premium rates.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said: “Nurses and midwives, through a combination of the pension levy and the loss of frontline posts, are already contributing more than their fair share to address our economic difficulties.
“It is frontline staff, particularly nurses and midwives, that are bearing the brunt of these staffing cuts, which amount to over 1,600 in the past 18 months, and, despite this, nurses and midwives continue to strive to deliver safe care to their patients.”
In a statement yesterday, Impact said it was wrong to suggest that most health service workers were paid more than others in the economy.
Impact spokesman Bernard Harbor said the most recent Central Statistics Office figures showed average earnings in the health sector were just €34,049 a year or about €650 a week. He said this was a gross figure – before tax and the 7.5 per cent average “pension levy” imposed on HSE staff and other public servants last March – and was well below average pay in the financial sector, business services, transport and manufacturing.
“It is unacceptable for the Minister to suggest that HSE staff could or should take another cut to pay for the mistakes made by her Government and top management in the finance and property sectors,” Mr Harbor said. “Impact will respond with industrial action if the Government attempts to impose more public service pay cuts.”
