Minister Richard Bruton says that the government are prepared to talk about pay with nurses

We stand with them.

Today marks the third day of strike action for Irish nurses and midwives across the country. Over 37,000 nurses have resumed their strike action this morning, in a dispute over pay and staff shortages. All outpatient, inpatient and day surgery appointments have been cancelled as a result of the action. However, hospitals around Ireland have a skeleton staff, for emergencies. As for government involvement, the Minister for Communications Richard Bruton has said that nurses pay will only be discussed in the context of an agreement that is collectively negotiated.

Nurse on radio "We're not looking for anything unreasonable, we just want safe staffing levels".So basic. If I was a newly qualified nurse there's no way I'd stick around for that crap. They deserve what they're asking for and so much more for the work that they do #nursesstrike

— Aoife (@aoifebucko) February 7, 2019

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said: "I think we are prepared to talk about pay in the context of an agreement that is collectively negotiated and those agreements bind everyone." He added: "I’m not going to start negotiating on the airways, what we need to do is get into a room and discuss concerns." "We’re trying to repair the damage in a balanced way." "Yes there are elements of restoring pay and seeing improvements but we also have to be able to invest and we have to able all the other services that are clamouring for investment," he added. We really hope this gets resolved sooner rather than later. Three more days of strike action are scheduled for next week.