The Government has been warned that delaying the start of public pay talks is only exacerbating the problem.

The nurses and midwives union (INMO) says its members will not be ignored while the Gardaí are given a raise.

Yesterday the country’s largest public sector trade union, SIPTU, agreed to give Ministers another two weeks to set a timeline for public salary negotiations, but the pressure is mounting to begin discussions.

Liam Doran of the INMO (pictured) says his members will not stand being treated differently to the gardaí.

He said: “There’s no way we can accept people outside of an agreement (ie gardaí) are going to get three times in January what our members get next September – €3000 in January versus €1,000 for our members in September.

“The delay is starting the talks is only exacerbating the problem.”