23 September 2025
SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan has criticised the delay in issuing a pay rise for health staff.
He said that platitudes and gratitude aren’t enough for workers struggling to make ends meet.
Speaking today following an Assembly motion on Health and Social Care Pay Awards 2025-26, the Foyle MLA said:
“Our health heroes are overburdened, undervalued and underpaid yet day in, day out, they continue to provide stellar care. I’m acutely aware that gratitude is not enough. Staff need fair pay and respect that is reflected not just in rhetoric but in their pay packets. They’re the backbone of society and it’s a disgrace that the Executive continues to delay funding for this crucial pay award.
“I want to also see the Health Minister address the way in which these payments will impact staff on Universal Credit. Too many of our lowest-paid staff will see any additional award clawed back almost pound for pound through the UC system. Money given with one hand, taken away with the other.
“If we truly value these workers, we cannot allow that to happen. I urge the Minister to work with colleagues, to engage directly with trade unions and crucially, to engage with the Communities Minister. There must be a way to ensure that this pay award is delivered in instalments or in a manner that prevents it from being swallowed up by UC calculations. Otherwise, some staff will feel no benefit at all of this pay increase.
“We are losing nurses, specialists and porters alike to burnout and to significantly better pay elsewhere; no longer just to Liverpool or London but a stone’s throw down the road to Letterkenny. The delay in this pay award will further compound those issues.
“Fair pay is not a luxury and staff aren’t demanding the impossible. They’re asking for a pay packet that keeps the lights on, a roof over their head and food on the table for their families. This pay award isn’t optional, it’s long overdue. But if it doesn’t come, if health staff are left with no option but to strike, the Executive parties who wouldn’t prioritise this pay increase daren't pose for photos on the picket lines.”