Nurses and midwives in Ireland have been at the centre of the country’s biggest public sector industrial dispute in years, as unions press the government for a new pay agreement to replace the deal that expired at the end of June 2026.
What happened
- Late September: public sector workers began a work-to-rule after talks on a successor pay agreement stalled.
- 8 October: members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) held lunchtime protests at hospitals including the Mater in Dublin and in Galway, highlighting the cost of living and its impact on staffing, RTÉ reported.
- 14 October: around 300,000 public sector workers, including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, took part in a 24-hour strike. The HSE cancelled non-urgent hospital and community services; emergency departments, urgent cancer treatment and dialysis continued.
- 16 October: unions in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ Public Services Committee suspended a second strike planned for 21 October after the government agreed to appoint an independent facilitator, Kevin Foley, to lead an intensive process aimed at opening formal negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission. The work-to-rule continued.
The positions
Unions say members are struggling with the cost of living and that the €1.2 billion set aside in Budget 2027 for a pay deal is insufficient. INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said nurses never take industrial action lightly and that the government’s efforts had come “too little, too late”, according to the Irish Examiner. She described as “inflammatory” a suggestion by the Taoiseach that public servants were striking for fun.
The government says the previous agreement delivered cumulative increases of 9.6% compared with 6.6% inflation over the same period, according to the Department of Public Expenditure. Minister Jack Chambers urged unions to re-engage and said the strike suspension gives the process room to move forward. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he values the work of public servants and hoped the initiative would lead to meaningful negotiations.
The previous public sector agreement ran from January 2024 to June 2026 and provided increases of up to 10.25%.
Local disputes continue
Separately, nurses at Naas General Hospital have taken indefinite industrial action over staffing and overcrowding. See our report on Naas.
What it means for international nurses in Ireland
Ireland’s HSE employs many internationally educated nurses, particularly from India, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and other countries. Public sector pay agreements set the pay scales they are paid on, so the outcome of these talks will directly affect their incomes. International nurses who are union members have the same right to participate in lawful industrial action as Irish colleagues. Anyone considering a move to Ireland should factor in rising rents and the cost of living alongside salary scales. See our NMBI registration guide.
We’ll report on the outcome of the facilitated talks.
Sources: RTÉ News (8 and 16 October 2026); Irish Examiner (14 October 2026). Situation as reported in mid-October; developments may have moved on.