A new pay deal has been agreed for 200,000 hospital workers which will give the majority a 15% pay rise over two years.

The agreement, which does not affect teaching hospitals, gives nursing staff roughly 5% backdated to February, a further 5% in December and another 5% in June 2024. The minimum increase for low paid staff is €150 per increment while those on high grades will get a maximum of €300.

Travel expenses are going up from 8 cents to 16 cents per kilometre and agreements have also been made about improved payments for being on call and reducing the pressure of work.

‘The main reason people stop working at hospitals is the pressure and the constant changes to rosters,’ said Joost Veldt, from the CNV trade union federation.

The agreement means strikes planned for April have now been cancelled ahead of a vote to approve the deal by health service unions.

‘We have acted responsibly,’ said Ad Melkert, chairman of the hospital association NVZ. Nevertheless, the organisation is concerned about the cost of the new pay deal. ‘We still think that the government and health insurance companies should be responsible enough to pay towards it,’ he said.