Psychiatric nurses have voted to take industrial action over the State's failure to date to provide a compensation scheme for nurses injured by assault at work.
Members of both the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) and Siptu voted by a nine-to-one majority in favour of action, up to and including a strike.
In a joint statement the unions accused the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive-Employers' Agency of reneging on a commitment to introduce a redress scheme for members assaulted at work.
The agency, in turn, accused the unions of breaching procedures by issuing a strike threat while discussions were ongoing. PNA industrial relations' officer Séamus Murphy said it was "appalling" that nurses had been placed in that [vote to take action] position. He accused Government and health service employers of breaking "numerous promises".
