Minister for Health Mary Harney has asked nurses to "urgently reconsider" their position in relation to their planned strike action over pay and working conditions.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Ms Harney said the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association had not yet given details of their proposed work stoppages.
The two unions recently voted by 99 per cent and 97 per cent in favour of industrial action and served three weeks' strike notice on the HSE on February 2nd.
"Health service employers have been endeavouring to agree contingency arrangements to ensure maintenance of essential...services. The INO have not stated the format, location and timing of the work stoppages," Ms Harney said in response to a question in the House.
"The failure to provide this information is a serious matter. The HSE requires this information in order to ensure that services and patients are not put at risk. I would ask the leadership of both organisations to urgently reconsider their position," she said.
Labour Party health spokeswoman Liz McManus said the reply did not bring matters forward. She noted today's notification from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin that, at one point today, there were 52 people waiting on trolleys and chairs in A&E, the highest figure ever.
"Would the minister not accept that in situations where nurses are working these conditions, she needs to take note of the fact that almost 100 per cent response to the ballot carried out by the INO and by the Psychiatric Nurses' Association was for industrial action and that that is such an overwhelming vote that her reply is inadequate in response to it."
Ms McManus said it seemed to her there needed to be a "more imaginative" approach to the issue if a lot of difficulties were not to be created in the health service by people who did "tremendous" work in often difficult circumstances. She said nurses did not lightly take industrial action, but in this case had overwhelmingly decided to do so.
She asked whether the Government was considering alternative means, other than the benchmarking process, that may lead to some resolution of the matter.
Ms Harney noted that some nurses, including a number represented by the union Siptu, had signed up to the recent national pay agreement awarding 10 per cent over 27 months.
"We need major work practice changes in the health system. In particular, we need people working more closely together as part of a team at primary care level. We need longer days from certain healthcare professions, particularly those involved in diagnostics so that patients can get the service they require, other than on an emergency basis, after 5 o'clock in the evening," Ms Harney said.
She said she believed there were "many innovative things" that could be done in relation to work practices in the health service if a forum could be established where these issues could be explored.
She noted a suggestion by Ictu that it would be worthwhile to establish a process whereby various stakeholders in the health service could be brought together to attempt to come up with solutions to the work practice issues.
"The issue for me in relation to the 35-hour week. If we can cover with the same number of nurses in 35 hours what is currently covered in 39 hours, there won't be an issue, but if what is required is the employment of 4,000 more nurses, to reduce the working week from 39 to 35 hours, there is an issue there," Ms Harney said.