Psychiatric Nurses will hold a second day of industrial action today as part of their dispute with the HSE over pay and staffing.

Some 6,000 members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) are staging an overtime ban from this morning.

The union says nurses will refuse to do additional hours at a significant number of locations nationwide.

They are due to join nurses and midwives in three days of strike action from February 12th.

"Realistic proposals"

PNA general secretary Peter Hughes told Newstalk that there has been no “realistic proposals” from the HSE aimed at ending the dispute.

“The making of this is not ours,” he said.

“The HSE have not recruited and retained sufficient nurses to provide a safe, comprehensive service for patients.”

“We had engagement over three days last week under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission,” he said.

“There was no realistic proposal came from the employers. The gap just remained as wide as ever.”

Industrial action

The PNA has warned that, if there is no agreement, its members will work no additional hours on the 5th, 6th or 7th February.

If the dispute continues, members will then engage in strike action on 12th, 13th and 14th February.