THE State's 26,000 nurses are to be balloted on a new productivity deal that provides significant pay rises over the next 15 months. ,The deal will cost the Exchequer "more than £35 million a year.
Negotiators for all four nursing unions involved in the talks are recommending acceptance of the terms. The Minister for Health, "Mr Noonan, has welcomed the outcome of the talks.
The executives of the relevant unions are expected to endorse the proposals when they meet early this week. A strike ballot, due to begin next week, would then be deferred to allow a vote on the settlement terms.
Under the proposals, the top of the pay scale for 17,000 staff nurses in general hospitals will be £20,350 from June 1997. At present, it is £17,485.
The increase will be paid in two long service increments. The first, worth £855, will be paid to nurses with at least three years service at the top of the existing nine year scale. The second, worth £1,125, will be paid to those with at least six years service at the top of the scale, in other words 15 years service in all.
The top rate for 2,500 ward sisters will rise from £19,727 to £23,520, and 1,350 public health nurses will see their top rate rise from £19,727 to £24,447.
The top rates for senior nursing management grades, which ranged from £20,518 to £27,815 will now be £24,520 to £35,000. Another £2,500 will be available to those in director of nursing grades through performance related payments.
About half of the 17,000 staff nurses already have more than nine years service and up to a third of them will be eligible for the new top rates at, or shortly after, their introduction.
An early retirement package will be offered to 600 nurses aged over 57. Two hundred nurses a year will be able to apply for early retirement over a three year period. The issue of early retirement is to be referred to the Pensions Commission for further consideration.
Management has also agreed to make 1,200 temporary nurses permanent within the next few months, if the deal is accepted.
In return, the unions have been asked to accept a £1,000 reduction in pay for new entrants. The new starting pay would be £12,822 at present rates. Allowances for additional nursing qualifications, worth about £300 a year, would be phased out. The introduction of a two year entry grade at the bottom of the staff nurse scale, and the two long service increments convert the existing nine year incremental scale to 17 years.The deal worked out with the help of the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Mr Kieran Mulvey, has, cleared the way for talks with unions representing more than 20,000 other workers in the health and local authority sectors.