Parties in ambulance dispute invited to Labour Court

The Labour Court has invited representatives from SIPTU and Unite to attend talks tomorrow in a bid to resolve the pay dispute at the National Ambulance Service, RTÉ News understands.

Neither of the unions would comment on the matter.

The Health Service Executive has also been contacted for comment.

A 24-hour strike by SIPTU and Unite members in the National Ambulance Service ended at 8am.

The HSE said yesterday that the action had a "significant impact" on ambulance services, resulting in longer-than-usual response times.

Pickets were placed at ambulance bases around the country as part of the action but striking workers said they did respond to life-threatening emergencies.

A work-to-rule, which began on Monday, is continuing and unions have warned that in addition to this week's action, there will be a 48-hour stoppage on 19 May, a 72-hour stoppage on 26 May, with further strike action planned for June.

The dispute involves emergency medical technicians, paramedics, advanced paramedics, specialist paramedics and paramedic supervisors.

Unions have accused the HSE of failing to implement the recommendations of an independent report on updating staff salary scales to reflect changes in responsibilities and workload.

The HSE said it regrets the decision to proceed with industrial action, adding that a previous set of proposals aimed at resolving the dispute, which would have delivered pay increases, were rejected by union members.

However, unions say that the proposals came with conditions, including changes to allowances, that were unacceptable to members.

The HSE has urged SIPTU and Unite to suspend the industrial action and return to the negotiating table.

Unions have said they would be willing to re-enter talks if they are held without preconditions.

McDonald says significant intervention needed by Govt

The Government has left paramedics hanging for six long years and the country now faces escalating stoppages, the Sinn Féin leader told the Dáil.

Mary Lou McDonald warned that without significant intervention from the Government this could take months to resolve.

"You can't sit this one out Taoiseach, your inaction risks walking the country into a summer of strikes," she said.

The Taoiseach acknowledged the critical role that paramedics play in the health service and said he was involved in the early transformation of the role of first responders.

Micheál Martin said it was dishonest to say that Government had done nothing for six years and a proposal offering pay increases was rejected by paramedics, despite it being recommended by unions.

He expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved and welcomed the role unions played in minimising the impact of yesterday's 24 hour stoppage.

He again urged the unions to return to talks in either the WRC or the Labour Court.

The Taoiseach said that Government cannot get involved directly in every dispute and the State's sophisticated industrial relations machinery is the place to do that.

Additional reporting Mícheál Lehane