Northern Ireland Junior doctors strike postpones 5,125 appointments: Health Minister has no 'magic money tree' to restore 2008 pay across public sector

They took to picket lines over pay and staff retention, and are set to stage further action in June.

The action – from 7am on Wednesday to 7am on Friday – will see doctors withdraw their labour from hospitals and GP surgeries across Northern Ireland in search of an improved pay deal.

The Department of Health says junior doctors in Northern Ireland have been offered an average backdated pay increase of 9.1% for 2023-24, with those in their first year receiving a 10.7% uplift.

However their union, BMA Northern Ireland, has called for a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels, claiming that junior doctors have seen their salaries effectively eroded by 30% over the last 15 years due to a failure to make pay awards in line with inflation.

But Health Minister Robin Swann said the issue of inflation erosion has impacted on all public sector workers, and that it is just not feasible to give the same award to them all.

"All our public-sector workers were impacted by pay restraint, so pay restoration spans our entire public sector," Mr Swann told the assembly on Tuesday.

"If we had that mythical, magical money tree to shake and if I were able to commit to the BMA's request for a 32% uplift for our junior doctors, even over a longer term, that would require a further £52 million per annum before any other pay awards were considered."

To apply this to all doctors and dentists would require an additional £210m each year before annual pay awards, he said.

If he was able to “shake the magic money tree” again and dislodge another £1bn, he said, he could make the same offer to nurses, paramedics, social workers and social care workers and health workers in not-for-profit community organisations.

Similarly, he said, other Executive ministers "would not relish" telling teachers, police officers, civil servants, public transport workers and other key workers that they were not entitled to the same uplift.

BMA spokesman Tom Black responded: "The problem we have is recurrent pay rises lower than inflation for the last 15 years.

"This means that junior doctors are the lowest paid doctors in the British Isles and are now more than 30% below their pay in 2008. Do we want them to emigrate or do we need them to stay and look after patients. When they go to Australia only 43% come back. We’re running a significant long term risk if we don’t pay them the going rate."

Meanwhile, strikes are also ongoing this week by thousands of education support staff across Northern Ireland in a long-running dispute over pay and grading.

Bus drivers, classroom assistants, cleaning and canteen staff are striking on Monday to Wednesday this week with two further days in June.

Stormont’s Department of Education says the strikes will have a “significant detrimental impact” on children.