Mr Tony O’Brien Director General Designate Health Service Executive Dr Steevens Hospital Dublin 8 Re: Proposed New Nurse/Midwife Graduate Programme Dear Mr O’Brien On behalf of the INMO/PNA we wish to reaffirm we remain fundamentally opposed to the proposed new nurse/midwife graduate programme. This is because we believe it to be an initiative to lower the pay, of the Staff Nurse/Midwife grade, while requiring the new graduate to carry 100% of the responsibility of a registered/regulated professional nurse/midwife while only receiving 80% of the stipulated salary. Furthermore it will add no additional nursing man-hours to our service and it will, inevitably, result in the displacement of excellent staff, currently employed by agencies, as part of the initial phase of the programme. As we have already informed you we are, today, holding a public protest, outside of the headquarters of the HSE in Dr. Steevens Hospital, to mark the 1st February 2013 which is now a second date, for applications, to this flawed and unfair initiative. The INMO/PNA also wish to reaffirm that our call for the boycott of the programme, by 2010/2011/2012 graduates remains firmly in place and will not be lifted. It is self-evident that a low pay “graduate” programme that seeks to target professionals, with up to two years experience, is nothing other than an attempt at exploitation. The INMO/PNA also wish to restate that we remain available for discussions with regard to finding other ways, of saving money, which will reduce extraneous expenditure, on agency employment, while still protecting the proper and agreed, salary scale for the staff nurse/midwife. Against this background we call upon the HSE to suspend the proposed graduate programme, in its current format, and to enter into discussions, with the INMO/PNA, to see how, recognising that €10 million savings must be made, a revised programme can be agreed which respects the value of the new graduate nurse/ midwife and the financial challenges of the HSE. We await hearing from you in due course. However we stress, in the interim, our call for a boycott remains in place and our outright opposition to this low paid programme remains absolute. Yours sincerely LIAM DORAN General Secretary INMO

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