INMO to protest at lunchtime

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) will hold lunchtime protests today, Thursday 8 October, in several hospitals in Cork and across the country.

Staff in Cork University Hospital will be protesting between 12.30 and 1.30pm today. They will be joined by staff at St Vincent’s University Hospital and Mater Public in Dublin, OLOL Drogheda, University Hospital Galway, Letterkenny University Hospital, University Hospital Limerick, Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar, and Naas General Hospital.

All the protests are taking place at the same time.

The protests are planned ahead of work stoppages that will begin in the public health service on Wednesday 14 October.

INMO members said that they are protesting over cost-of-living measures and the impact it is having on staffing in hospitals. They are currently engaged in a work-to-rule as part of the ongoing public sector industrial action.

In response to Budget 2027 which was announced on Tuesday, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The Government focus when it comes to the health service appears to be on driving productivity, rather than addressing the root causes of long waiting times and overcrowding – insufficient staffing and capacity.

“The work-to-rule industrial action being carried out by the INMO is exposing just how many gaps in the health service are currently being filled by the goodwill of our members.

“This week, more than 1,136 patients have been left waiting on trolleys. The ESRI estimates that an additional 6,500 inpatient beds will be required by 2040. Against that backdrop, Budget 2027 remains silent on the amount of acute beds that will be delivered in 2027,” she said.