The Minister for Finance has said he has yet to receive a report on wages in the health service.

It was reported this morning that the Public Sector Pay Commission is set to reject a pay increase for nurses.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that the HSE is finding it impossible to recruit and retain nurses under the current pay regime.

The staff shortage is recognised as a key driver of the ongoing hospital overcrowding crisis facing the country.

This afternoon, the INMO said it will hold talks with the HSE and Department of Health next week to discuss the issues – amid fears nurses could be set for industrial action.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe launching the Ag Obair le Chéile project, 31-08-2018. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Speaking this afternoon, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said he has yet to receive the the Public Sector Pay Commission report - and will take it Cabinet as soon as he does.

“Broadly, we are just at the end of the first year of a three-year agreement in relation to the future of public pay,” he said.

“That is an agreement that sees significant additional investment in public pay for all of our public servants who provide such valuable services.

“I am committed to honouring that agreement and I will comment further on the report when I have received it and I have taken it to Cabinet.”

Winter crisis

In a statement the INMO said it will use next week’s meeting to ask the HSE to present plans for dealing with the winter crisis - including which hospital services they plan to curtail to meet extra demand.

They are due to meet at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

It comes as new INMO figures suggest this month has been the worst August on record for hospital overcrowding.

Its monthly trolley watch analysis shows that 7,911 admitted patients were on chairs or trolleys in August - an increase of 2% on last year.

The INMO says 30 children were among those waiting without a bed.

"This all comes down to pay"

The hospitals with the highest figures were University Hospital Limerick (969), University Hospital Galway (619) and Cork University Hospital (604).

INMO general-secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha says: "Even though it was a mild month, patients and staff faced record overcrowding.

"Nearly 8,000 sick and injured people were forced to wait without a bed.

"The message from the frontline is clear: this all comes down to pay.

"The HSE simply cannot find enough nurses and midwives to work on these wages.

"It's no coincidence that Limerick has had such a bad month, as they have over 70 unfilled nursing vacancies.

"Unless nurses and midwives get pay equality with similarly-qualified health professionals, vacancies will remain open and things will only get worse."