Nurses resume industrial action at Naas General Hospital over staff shortage

Nurses at Naas General Hospital in Co Kildare have resumed industrial action in a dispute over staffing levels.

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) had been engaged in a work-to-rule industrial action at the hospital in February over “unacceptable and unsafe staffing deficits”.

It said there had been a failure to fill maternity leave vacancies, as well as a failure to increase staffing to meet a more than 25 per cent increase in emergency department attendance at the hospital in the past three years.

The action was suspended following an agreement reached with Health Service Executive (HSE) management last February 2026 on measures to address the issues.

“However, these staffing proposals have not been implemented within the agreed timeframe because of the ongoing impact of health service recruitment restrictions, leaving members with no choice but to move forward with industrial action considering serious safety concerns for patients and staff,” a union statement said when announcing nurses would resume their industrial action.

The INMO’s industrial relations officer for Naas General Hospital, Joe Houlihan, said the workforce was exhausted and angry because 80 nursing posts remain unfilled.

He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Thursday that an agreement was reached last February in relation to staffing arrangements when the hospital was almost 70 nursing posts short, but said that had risen to 80 posts short.

“As of yesterday a number of beds have had to close in Naas, resulting in, unfortunately, delays in the emergency department, there are delays in theatre, there is a bed closed in intensive care, and this is simply because there are not enough staff on the ground in order to deliver safe care to patients in those beds.”

The industrial action would continue until the HSE and the Department of Health gave Naas special dispensation to recruit the number of staff needed, he said.

“There is a very unwieldy bureaucratic staffing structures now in place in the health service which are essentially to ensure nobody gets recruited,” Houlihan said.

“That is not acceptable to the members in Naas and until we have firm commitments from the Department of Health about staffing for Naas, this action will continue.”

Houlihan added that the INMO expected all parties involved to “come to the table” to reach an agreement to release posts for Naas hospital.

“It simply can’t be expected to run 100 per cent services with 80 per cent staffing,” he said.