RCN 'so disappointed' about delay in backdated strike pay
Nurses still waiting for payment of lost wages
Last updated 26th Oct 2020
A nursing union has expressed 'deep disappointment' that healthcare staff in Northern Ireland have not yet had their pay reimbursed for the days when they took strike action.
It was the first time in the Royal College of Nursing's history in Northern Ireland this happened.
The RCN took the action in a bid to secure pay parity with other parts of the UK and safe staffing levels.
One of the First moves Robin Swann made when he became Health Minister was to secure the funding.
Shortly after, on May, 18, the Northern Ireland Executive agreed ÂŁ1.64 million to reimburse healthcare staff and provide a backdated payment for the lost wages.
But almost six months later it is yet to be actioned.
Finance Minister Conor Murphy was asked about the delay by Sinn Fein's Pat Sheehan in the assembly last week:
"Well the Executive agreed to allocate ÂŁ1.64 million to reimburse healthcare staff on the 18th May and it is disappointing that five months on, the Department of Health is yet to provide this money...
"I again urge the Health Minister to reimburse health workers who are the forefront of the Covid pandemic as a matter of urgency.
"This was something that has been agreed by the Executive and so I'm not sure what the hold up in relation to payment is."
Downtown Cool FM asked Robin Swann about the delay:
"What's holding us back at this minute in time is the repercussive nature of reimbursing strike pay, it would be the first time I think it has ever been done.
"I have sought legal advice from the Attorney General who's getting further advice from the Department's solicitors office in regards to if we were to do this what precedence does it set on a repercussive nature and what that actually means if I as Minister of Health take a step that has an implication on any other Minister's budget line that it comes back to health to pay that consequential.
"That could also have a knock on affect not just in Northern Ireland but across the United Kingdom."
Mr Swann added: "So before I take that step, it's a step that I want to take to recognise...our health service, I want to be sure legally that nay decisions that I take does not have a long lasting or deep impact on the Health Department's budget for Northern Ireland which is already stretched and has been stretched."
Director of the Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland Pat Cullen says healthcare staff are gutted:
"This was a welcome boost for nursing staff working on the frontline as they continue to care and treat patients during the first wave of the pandemic.
"Nurses are so disappointed that this money has still not been released by the Department of Health.
"On the one hand they are once again being asked to step up to the mark and on the other, not getting what they were promised months ago.
"The RCN has raised this issue time and time again but are at a complete loss as to why something that has been announced so publicly, has not simply happened."