Ms Freeman said she works “three long days” in her nursing job and then another four as part of a “relief bank” — the hospital’s own panel of emergency staff. Drawing staff from the relief bank is cheaper than using an agency.

Ms Freeman’s was one of many hardship stories outlined yesterday at the annual delegate conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in Letterkenny.

“My salary 14 years ago would have been £2,875 Irish punts every month after tax. Now it’s €1,261 fortnightly after tax, or about €2,500 a month, and about €600 less than I got a few years ago. I am on the top salary which is €43,800 which is my annual salary.

“The bottom line is I am the only earner in my house. I have two teenage girls. One is in first year in University College Dublin and one is doing her Leaving Cert this year.

“I have €2,660 worth of fees that have to be paid. I am not entitled to a grant. You have bus fares to provide for them every week, you have the food to put on the table and the car tax. All the outgoings have gone up but what is coming in is going down.”

Ms Freeman said she had a “constant credit union loan” and because her outgoings exceed her incomings, she had no choice but to double-job to keep a roof over their heads.

“I am on my own, so that is where it is very difficult because you are funding three people.”

Eileen Kelly, a member of the INMO executive council and secretary of the Roscommon branch, said that after 20 years of nursing, she finds herself having to ask her mother for a digout on occasion.

“I work full-time in older persons’ services but I have a huge mortgage. I do a whole lot of extra overtime at weekends to try and earn extra money, but sometimes I have to borrow money from my mother to pay for the heat and lighting. Everything is going up. All the utility bills.”

Ms Kelly said her house cost €200,000, but by the time she had her mortgage paid, her wages “just don’t seem to go far enough”.

She said she is seriously considering emigrating to “somewhere like Canada or Norway, where pay and conditions are better”.

Patricia Barrett O’Boyle of the Castlebar branch hit out at Siptu leader Jack O’Connor, whose members rejected Croke Park II despite a recommendation to accept.

“I am a union member Mr Jack O’Connor, I fight for my union members, I cannot, shall not, will not, and won’t ever vote for worse working conditions. Ever. We are a union, we stay together as a union, and believe me, Mr O’Connor, your members know what a union does, even if you don’t,” she said.