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Donegal North East
election candidate, Cecilia Keaveney has defended
her stance on the nurses' dispute.
"I am sympathetic to the nurses' claims and I have
put it on record that I agree that they should be in
a position to dedicate more time to nursing care,"
said the Fianna Fail candidate.
"I have always believed and still believe that the
demands and aspirations of the nurses are legitimate
but there must be an agreed process and framework
within which to work out an agreement on these. This
is through the social partnership process". The
Irish Nurses' Organisation and the Psychiatric
Nurses' Association are seeking a 10% pay rise and a
35-hour week.
Ms. Keaveney added: "I welcome the statement by An
Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern that the pay anomaly
which affects a small number of nurses who are
supervising social care workers of a higher grade
could be resolved immediately.
"With regards benchmarking and pay increases, I do
believe that these can also be resolved. However,
the reduction to the 35-hour working week is more
complex. I do welcome the Taoiseach's offer to
appoint an independent, eminent person to oversee a
process to evaluate the full potential of the
changes and efficiencies that the nurses are willing
to sign up to as part of a 35 hour working week."
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