SIPTU, which represents 8,000 nurses, has said the cost of industrial peace can sometimes be "too high". The union's national nursing official, Mr Oliver McDonagh, warned nurses at their convention in Killarney last night that they would be asked to fill the gap in the delivery of services previously carried out by junior doctors.
He said when the Hanly report and the working time directive were implemented, there would be a gap in the delivery of services previously carried out by non-consultant hospital doctors.
"While the issue of consultants' contracts in the wake of Hanly is being debated, who will fill the gap in services...I believe that nurses will be expected to step into the breach and fill that gap. This will mean nurses entering areas of expertise which they were not required to do up to now."
The new demands on nurses might, as employers were saying, open up doors to new specialist areas for them. However, this had to be reflected in pay increases.
"If nurses are expected to advance their knowledge, expertise and levels of responsibility, then this must be reflected in their earnings."
Mr McDonagh accused employers of trying to use the peace clause in Sustaining Progress "to re-interpret every established agreement or custom and practice we had". Attempts to by-pass industrial relations would not be tolerated.
"We are tired of negotiating deals at national level, and then having to deal with employers who want them renegotiated and re-interpreted."
Near the end of the first stage of Sustaining Progress there was still no sign of the escort policy they had demanded, the no-fault compensation scheme had also fallen by the wayside and there were still problems with the introduction of the theatre on-call allowance agreement.
"If the employers want industrial peace, then they must uphold their end of the bargain," he told delegates at the start of the three-day conference.
He also spoke on a growing number of assaults in admission units in psychiatric hospitals in which nurses had to deal with people under the influence of alcohol and or illegal drugs.