Taoiseach and opposition clash over ambulance strike
By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association
This week’s ambulance strike caused “distress and upset” to patients dependent on the service, the Taoiseach has said.
Micheál Martin was asked about the 24-hour stoppage, which ended at 8am on Wednesday during Leaders’ Questions.
Members of Siptu and Unite at the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are taking part in industrial action in a dispute over pay.
He said: “We do know that there were significant delays in ambulance response times that did cause distress and upset to those who were depending on the ambulance service.”
Ambulance workers say their roles, and the qualifications they need, have changed significantly in the last 15 to 20 years, but pay has not been adjusted to reflect that.
Leader of the Opposition Mary Lou McDonald said: “Paramedics were asked to step up to take on advanced training to modernise the ambulance service, and they did what was asked of them, but in typical Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael style, you washed your hands of your obligations and left them hanging.”
Martin said: “I was critically involved at an earlier time as minister for health in the professionalisation of the first responder service.
“So I had the greatest and highest of respect for the transformation that has occurred.”
The Government has “always acknowledged, and the state has always accepted, that pay structures need to be modernised”, he added.
There were “very significant outcomes” from negotiations between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and unions Martin said, as well as engagement with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Those proposals were recommended by unions to their members, he told the Dáil, but they were rejected following a ballot.
More industrial action is scheduled for later in May and June and McDonald said Martin’s response on Tuesday “means that we face escalating stoppages next week and the week after”.
“Your failure to intervene has real consequences,” she said.
McDonald also accused the Taoiseach of taking a “laissez-faire” approach and hoping others “will sort this out”.
Martin countered and said: “You’re mischaracterising my approach to this, this is a very serious issue.
“You know in your heart of hearts that this has to be resolved through the industrial relations machinery.
“You know, every single public service dispute that can occur, taoisigh will not be getting involved”, and “there’s a proper way to do this”.
He said the HSE and the department “remain ready and available to re-engage” through the WRC and the labour court processes and “urged” Siptu and Unite to “return to those mechanisms”.
