An escalation of industrial action by 45,000 nurses will add to the "worry and distress" of patients and their families, Minister for Health Mary Harney has said.
Speaking after talks between nursing unions and the Health Service Executive broke down this evening, Ms Harney said she was "very disappointed."
She said any further industrial action by nurses would be "very regrettable and unhelpful".
She added that one way or another the issues to be resolved will have to come back to the National Implementation Body (NIB) at some stage.
The Minister said she was very supportive of the changes in the role of nurses that the unions tabled at the talks and these are in line with the HSEs own transformation programme. However, the right place to discuss these changes is with the Health Services Forum that had been set up for that purpose.
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