Vol. 525 No. 4
95 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Health and Children if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 223 of 25 October 2000 regarding a person (details supplied) in County Meath, he has been included in the nursing alliance working group joint management; and if not when she will be considered for payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25318/00]
As part of the settlement of the nurses' pay dispute, the Labour Court recommended payment of a lump sum of £1,250 to all nurses employed in the public sector. The lump sum was also payable to student public health nurses, post-registration student nurses and pupil midwives. It was not payable to student nurses participating in the nursing registration-diploma programmes or to agency nurses. The qualifying date for payment of the lump sum was 5 November 1999.
As the Deputy will be aware, earlier this year the Nursing Alliance raised queries with the Health Service Employers Agency, HSEA, regarding temporary-part-time nurses who may not have worked on that date. In February 2000 the HSEA advised the Nursing Alliance that employers would consider applications from nurses in this category who had worked a minimum of eight hours per week in the 13 weeks preceding 5 November 1999 or a total of 104 hours in the same period. In calculating the total hours worked the reckonable period should be adjusted to take account of the nine day work stoppage.
Subsequently, a joint management-Nursing Alliance working group has dealt with a number of individual cases raised by the Nursing Alliance concerning payment of the £1,250 lump sum, having regard to the criteria outlined above.
The position is that the individual in question does not qualify for payment of the lump sum under the agreed criteria.
