After lobbying and protests from groups including the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the government is to remove the pay anomaly that affected students who completed nursing and midwifery internships between 2011 and 2015.
Minister for Health Simon Harris TD, announced today that the anomaly, which meant that incremental credit was not extended to these students, is to be removed. These graduates will, from January, receive an extra increment worth between €1,200 and €1,500, depending on their current point on the scale, which will see them at equal pay levels with those recruited prior to 2011 and those recruited in 2016.
Speaking to The University Times at a protest organised by groups including INMO and SIPTU in September, Dean Flanagan, INMO’s Student and New Graduate Officer, said that the organisation was protesting as these students were not going to be recognised “for putting their shoulder to the wheel during the worst times of austerity”.
Flanagan added that “we’ve had stories today at the briefing where people had 50 people in their year, all of a sudden there may be only four people left in the country, and that‘s what we’re dealing with”.
INMO has welcomed the development, with Liam Doran, INMO General Secretary, saying in a statement: “It represents an important first step, which must now be followed by further initiatives, to address the deepening crisis with regard to nurse/midwife staffing levels and this country’s inability to retain these professionals in our public health service.”
Speaking to The University Times at September’s protest, Deputy President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), Jack Leahy, described the government’s decision as “regressive” and commented that he hoped the protest would remind the government of the economic importance of investing in graduates.
