INMO workers vote for industrial action due to staff shortages

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have voted in favour of industrial action. 

After a six-week long in-person ballot, an overwhelming 95.6% of INMO members that work in the public service sector agree that industrial action should take place due to shortages of staff. 

These nurses and midwives were balloted about the HSE’s pause on hiring nursing and midwifery staff and according to the INMO, roles within this health sector have had delayed recruitment.

This has led to short staffing and overcrowding in hospitals nationwide. 

At the end of 2023, more than 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts were left unfilled in the public health system.

The INMO President, Caroline Gourley, released a statement on the matter that reads, “ 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”.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha, General Secretary of INMO, also commented to explain, “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”.