HEALTH MINISTER JAMES Reilly will address the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) annual conference later today.

The Minister’s address at midday will come as the organisation said yesterday that it will do whatever is necessary to protect the pay of its members.

General Secretary Liam Doran said that any attempt by the government to “interfere” with the rates of pay which are protected by the Croke Park Agreement will be opposed by the INMO.

The annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry has already heard criticism of the recruitment moratorium in the public sector which was described by the president of the INMO, Sheila Dickson, as “destructive and irrational”.

Yesterday, the conference heard claims that some hospitals were hiding trolleys with patients on them in some wards in order to reduce the number of patients on trolleys that were being recorded in their hospitals.

The Tánaiste doubted this practice but Doran said that it was “inappropriate” that this was happening. In this video posted on the INMO website, he rounds-up events on day two of the conference:

YouTube: IRLINMO

Reilly’s address today is likely to deal with the concerns of nurses and midwives that have been raised at the conference in recent days as well as his proposed wide ranging reforms to the health service which will include the eventual establishment of universal health insurance.

Today will also see a further address from the organisation’s president Sheila Dickson as well as the election of new officers – a president and vice presidents – for the INMO who will take up the roles for the next two years.

Read: Hospitals ‘hiding trolleys’ on wards, says INMO

Read: HSE recruitment moratorium ‘destructive and irrational’, say health staff