Labour Court cannot recommend filling vacant Midleton hospital nursing post

The Labour Court could not recommend filling a vacant Clinical Nurse Manager 2 post at Midleton Community Hospital, citing public-sector recruitment restrictions and budget limits. Its recommendation was signed on 18 March 2011. The Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation sought the appointment, saying the HSE had filled comparable posts elsewhere and the vacancy raised risks. HSE South said the existing management structure provided effective governance and safe services, and cited a recent Health Information and Quality Authority report. The Court noted that the post had been vacant since May 2007 and that recruitment restrictions had prevented HSE attempts to fill it in 2008 and 2009. It concluded that the Public Service Agreement 2010–2014 and the public-sector recruitment and promotion moratorium prevented it from recommending that the post be filled at that time.