Vol. 463 No. 1
3 Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn asked the Minister for Health the progress, if any, that has been made in the industrial dispute involving nurses following the overwhelming rejection of the Government's pay and conditions offer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5844/96]
Limerick East): Following the rejection of an earlier offer and subsequent intervention by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the nursing unions agreed to the request of the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission to defer a planned ballot on industrial action, to allow negotiations to proceed with a view to achieving an agreed negotiated settlement. Negotiations recommenced, facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission, on Monday, 4 March 1996.
The latest round of negotiations is being conducted on a confidential basis and is scheduled to conclude by Friday, 22 March 1996. With commitment and goodwill on both sides, it should be possible to arrive at a mutually acceptable settlement. That is the frame of mind in which both sides have entered the most recent set of negotiations and on this basis I am hopeful about settlement being reached within the agreed time-frame.
Given the delicate balance to be struck in these negotiations, the Deputy will appreciate that any more detailed comments or statement by me would not be appropriate or helpful in bringing the talks to a successful conclusion.
Are talks ongoing or will they not resume until Friday? Is it intended to resume the talks on Monday next, the bank holiday, or will they take place on only Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week? In his Ard-Fheis statement the Minister said he would be flexible in the nurses' dispute? What did he mean by that?
(Limerick East): As the Deputy knows, the talks are being carried out under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission and facilitators are available to both sides. The management side — my officials and other public service officials — with the four nursing unions and the Labour Relations Commission, have set out a timetable which they believe is sufficient for negotiating. I understand they met earlier this week and are meeting again on Friday. They believe they have sufficient time to complete their work programme.
At the Ard-Fheis I said I would approach this matter in a flexible and imaginative way. Some of the nurses' grievances have arisen during the past 15 years but were impossible to address when bargaining was centralised in the past seven years. Under the Programme for Competitiveness and Work's 3 per cent clause it is possible to deal with outstanding matters. Flexibility and imagination are required to ensure that one stays within the terms of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work while at the same time devising strategies to meet grievances that have arisen over a long time. It is not possible to simply import a solution that solved a problem in a different professional or public service sector. While we can learn from some of the strategies adopted in the teachers' settlement they would not apply in this case. Other measures need to be introduced to solve the nurses' dispute. That is what I meant by flexibility and imagination.
I am glad the Minister noted the comments of Members on flexibility. Obviously, he also learned from our comments about importing into this dispute at least some of the strategies adopted to settle the teachers' dispute.
(Limerick East): I spend my life learning from women.
I urge the Minister to continue on that learning curve and to impart that feeling of flexibility and imagination to those representing the management side in the nurses' dispute. I urge them to reach an equitable solution with the nurses who have been neglected for a long time.
(Limerick East): I have great confidence in those negotiating on the management side. They are following guidelines laid down by the Minister for Finance and myself. This dispute involves the negotiation of new pay scales and conditions and I hope there is sufficient give and take on both sides to arrive at a satisfactory settlement.
