A nursing union has blasted a failure by the HSE to pay a maximum €1,000 pandemic payment to thousands of nurses.
The Irish Nurses’ and Midwives Organisation said it shows “disrespect”.
The hospital heroes were promised between €600 and €1,000 six months ago for putting their lives at risk on the frontline against Covid.
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But thousands remain unpaid, prompting former Health Minister Simon Harris to yesterday declare the situation urgent and call for it to be fixed.
He also said: “If people, who are better paid in the HSE than the nurses, didn’t get €1,000, this would be resolved pretty quickly.”
The INMO said its members have waited long enough, while nurses claim the delay has “ruined the payment’s purpose”.
An INMO spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: “This has been far too long in being implemented and it’s left a very bad impression among those who are still waiting to be paid.
“Despite Government statements that the pandemic recognition payment for frontline workers would be paid immediately, many of our members are still waiting for payment.
“The bonus was supposed to be a gesture of recognition for the difficult work that was done during the pandemic, but delays like this only make our members feel more disrespected.”
The one-off payment to eligible public healthcare and ambulance workers was announced on January 19 this year.
Delays in setting up the pro-rata bonus scheme emerged within weeks.
Minister Simon Harris revealed on RTE radio that neither he, the Government nor Health Minister Stephen Donnelly could understand why the pandemic payment had not been paid in full because the Government had provided funding.
He added: “We were given assurances this would happen.
“Some 13,000 have been paid, but it is not nearly the majority.
“It needs to be fixed and fixed urgently.
“It’s a small token of appreciation for people who did incredible
work.
“It needs to be paid. We were told that it would be paid by this stage.”
All healthcare staff who worked in a frontline environment between March 1st, 2020, and June 30th, 2021, and required priority for the Covid-19 vaccine are eligible for the payment.
These include nurses, consultants, lab staff, healthcare assistants, cleaners, porters, swabbers, vaccinators and administrative staff.
Some other non-HSE healthcare staff are eligible.
The HSE has been asked to explain the delays and to state when the payment will be made.
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