The INMO has admitted that waiting lists for surgeries will get longer as a result of a deal to avert strike action in emergency departments.

The deal being put to members will offer two days of extra leave, in exchange for the extra overtime that nurses have to work because of overcrowding.

The proposals also include cash bursaries to attract new nurses who can help to ease the overcrowding in emergency wards nationwide. 

The INMO says strike action has been deferred pending the outcome of a ballot of nurses on the proposals put forward last night, but plans remain for work stoppages in January.

However the government has also been accused of undermining the Lansdowne Road pay deal by offering extra leave to nurses - while the opposition parties say the measures now on the table, while welcome, are too little too late.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News: