Nurses are set to announce the “initial first set” of their 24-hour strike dates tomorrow afternoon.
It’s after 95% per cent of INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) members voted in favour of industrial action last month.
The organisation said the dispute centres on safe staffing in the health service.
It said wages in nursing and midwifery are too low to recruit and retain enough staff to safely run the health service.
If a national strike goes ahead, it would see INMO members providing only lifesaving and emergency care.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has previously warned that a pay rise for nurses would be "unaffordable and unsustainable."
Meanwhile, the organisation warned that there were 541 admitted patients waiting for beds in Ireland’s hospitals this morning.
The organisation said 392 were waiting in emergency departments while 149 are in wards.
The heaviest overcrowding was recorded at:
- University Hospital Limerick – 44
- Letterkenny University Hospital – 36
- Cork University Hospital – 36
