Carthy praises nurses’ fight for fairness in European Parliament
Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands North West Matt Carthy has praised the struggle of Irish nurses and midwives in the European Parliament, outlining their fight for fair conditions and a better health service to an international audience.
Addressing MEPs from across Europe in the plenary session of the Parliament in in Strasbourg, Carthy said: “I want to congratulate the Irish nurses and midwives for their resolute action against a government that has refused to engage with their legitimate demands.
“After a massive demonstration of solidarity in Dublin last weekend, the Labour Court has now intervened to provide an offer that the nurses are considering.
“That the dispute reached this point is a true indictment of Fine Gael and its useless appendage, Fianna Fáil.
“Nurses have been forced to take their strike action against the backdrop of a deteriorating health service. They are fighting for a better health service for all of us. People across Ireland know this, which is why they have such broad public support.
“It’s no wonder we have a recruitment and retention crisis in nursing when their pay is lower today than it was in 2008.
“We need economic growth to be based on real wage growth, not an expansion of credit that drives people ever deeper into debt. Irish workers need a pay rise.
“The Irish government and EU leaders need to realise that their agenda of austerity, low pay and growing inequalities will see increasing levels of opposition among those people, including our nurses and midwives, who are at the coalface.
“They will have the full support and solidarity of Sinn Féin in their ongoing fight for fairness.” ENDS
