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Donegal North East
Fine Gael candidate Senator Joe McHugh has described
nurses as "the backbone of the health service".
And he said he recognised their sense of grievance
with the HSE.
"It is the nurses who make up the health service 24
hours a day, seven days a week. I want the nurses to
know that Fine Gael in government will recognise and
reward our nurses for their high performance."
Speaking on Tuesday in relation to the industrial
action at Letterkenny General Hospital, Senator
McHugh said the nurses' dispute was proof that the
"current benchmarking process" is not effective.
"Fine Gael has long advocated reform of this
process. We believe that the Government should
engage with the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and
Psychiatric Nurses' Organisation (PNO) and other
social partners with a view to reforming
benchmarking so that the nursing organisations can
participate in the process.
"The nurses are willing to reform their work and
expand their roles, and Fine Gael believes
benchmarking should be there to award such efforts.
These awards should be public awards linked to
delivery of improvements and achievements," he said.
"We believe that rebuilding the health service will
involve partnership with all the key stakeholders in
the health service. We have spoken to the INO and
the PNO and want to be flexible in our approach.
Senator McHugh added: "We recognise and acknowledge
their sense of grievance particularly with regard to
their hours of work and their relative pay position
within the health service".
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