There is no guarantee that giving a pay rise of 8 per cent, or even up to 12 per cent, to nurses would solve the problem of recruitment and retention in the health service, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. “The reason nurses are leaving [the country] is that they are being offered better pay abroad. The Fianna Fáil leader said the Government had made the situation worse, and asked the Taoiseach if he had “reprimanded your Ministers”. This week other services such as respite and other community facilities have been brought within the scope of the action. The HSE’s interim national director of community operations, David Walsh, said on Tuesday no admissions for respite care had been made this week due to the nurses’ strike.

Source: The Irish Times February 05, 2019 20:37 UTC