Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action, following the government's failure to negotiate a new national public service pay agreement.

The union announced on Wednesday that over 99% of participating members supported the ballot proposal. The nationwide in-person vote was conducted over six weeks across public health facilities, driven by frustration over cost-of-living pressures, severe hospital overcrowding, and persistent staffing shortages.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha stated that frontline healthcare workers are facing extremely difficult working conditions due to overcrowded wards and depleted staffing levels. She highlighted that public service workers are bearing heavy financial costs, including inflated expenses for housing, fuel, childcare, and daily travel, emphasizing that shift workers in healthcare cannot work from home to save on commuting.

She added that low staff morale and inadequate funding are impacting both patient safety and staff well-being across hospitals and community care settings, warning that the health service can no longer depend solely on the goodwill of workers.

The ballot result aligns the INMO with other major public sector trade unions—including Fórsa, Siptu, and Unite—whose members have also backed mandates for industrial action over the pay impasse. On Wednesday, public service union Fórsa served formal notice of industrial action on public health employers, including the Health Service Executive (HSE), scheduled to begin on September 30 with targeted non-cooperation measures and refusal of overtime.

While the INMO has not yet served formal notice of specific action dates, the ballot provides its executive council with a mandate to escalate the dispute through industrial measures or strikes if negotiations with the government remain stalled.