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NURSES BODY THE Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has confirmed its “willingness to engage” with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ahead of a planned day of industrial action.

However, that industrial action planned for next Tuesday has not been suspended or deferred, and at present is still expected to proceed.

The decision by the INMO this evening came as a result of a statement from the Lansdowne Road Agreement Oversight Body which urged both the INMO and the health service to end the dispute using the mechanisms already in place.

Having “considered” that statement, a spokesperson for the INMO this evening confirmed that the organisation had “indicated its availability to commence these discussions immediately”.

INMO general secretary Liam Doran Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

However, the spokesperson added that the pending industrial action “has not been suspended or deferred”.

“More clarity should be available after the executive council’s next meeting,” they said. That meeting is planned for this Saturday.

More than 30,000 of the organisation’s members had planned to work-to-rule next Tuesday, 7 March. That action will see those involved refuse to do overtime or plug gaps between wards; however they will perform their normal working duties.

The INMO claims the action is about a lack of staffing and safety for both nurses and patients.

A series of further strikes are planned for later in March should a resolution not be found.

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