The Health Minister has rejected criticism that he has not engaged with nursing unions over their planned strikes.
Nurses and midwives are set to strike at the end of the month in a row over pay and conditions.
The Government is refusing to increase their pay as they say it will lead to pay claims from other public sector workers.
Labour, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Independents4Change have called for an independent review into the nursing profession to "properly lay out the scale of extra work and duties and how nurses could be compensated for this".
Fianna Fáil's Stephen Donnelly, meanwhile, claimed in a statement that Minister Harris "has yet to meet or engage with the [Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation]", adding: “There must be an urgency placed on engagement between the Government and these organisations."
However, Health Minister Simon Harris today denied the opposition claims that he isn't engaging with nurses.
Speaking in the Dáil, he argued: "The level of revisionism going on in this House is quite simply breathtaking. To suggest it's taking strike action to engage with me... simply does not bear any fact.
"I don't believe there's been a time that the INMO has sought to meet with me where I haven't been available to meet and engage with [them]."
The INMO has scheduled the first of six planned strikes for January 30th, while the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) is also set to engage in strike action next month.
Talks took place yesterday between the INMO, the PNA and the HSE to try and reach agreement on issues surrounding pay and conditions.
The unions say they were not presented with concrete proposals and, as the situation currently stands, the strike action will go ahead.
However, another meeting between the sides is planned for next Monday.
Fianna Fáil has called for the nurses' concerns to be independently assessed by an expert group chaired by a judge.
Solidarity/People Before Profit, meanwhile, called on the Government to "immediately enter negotiations" with unions, and to allocate the necessary funding this year to meet the requested pay increase.
