The nurses' dispute is heating up on the eve of the HSE pay deduction plan and a potentially confrontational speech by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.
Nurses have been given until 5.30pm tomorrow to call off their work actions or face a 13% deduction in pay.
Officials from the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Association reacted angrily to the HSE's plan and said it was a return to the kind of behaviour employers had engaged in in 1913.
They added it was totally provocative and would lead to a serious escalation of the dispute.
Speaking to journalists outside the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, Fine Gael's Enda Kenny said if Minister Harney and the Taoiseach were serious about dealing with this strike, then it might not have gone this far.
Ms Harney called on Mr Kenny to say whether or not he supported the nurses' demand for a 35-hour work week, and if so, how it should be implemented.
Mr Kenny will address the special nursing delegate conference Thursday morning and outline his plan.
Hundreds of nurses and midwives have been taking part in work stoppages at hospitals and facilities in six counties as part of their work to rule action.
Three-hour work stoppages have already been planned for Friday.
The Health Service Executive says up to 250 procedures had to be cancelled as a result of today's stoppages.
The HSE said it planned to take the pay deduction action in a bid to recoup the €2m a week which it claimed the dispute was costing.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the Minister for Health Mary Harney said the HSE's position was not unfair and that it had been made clear to nursing unions in February.
Click here for a full list of hospitals affected by work stoppages
