Unions said ambulance personnel will provide emergency cover during strike action

LAST UPDATE | 6 hrs ago

UNIONS HAVE SAID that striking paramedics will respond to emergency calls but that their industrial action this week is needed to confront a lack of action on pay for the last seven years by the government. 

Members of Siptu and Unite unions are to impose work-to-rule action today and a 24-hour stoppage on Tuesday.

In a statement, the HSE has said that there will be a significant impact on services.

In a statement, they said the public should still call emergency services if urgent medical care is needed.

HSE said: “During the rolling industrial actions, the capacity of the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to respond will be significantly impacted.”

Under contingency plans, the 999 phone service will be fully operational and priority will be given to patients experiencing emergencies like heart attacks or with serious injuries from road accidents.

The HSE said there will be delays in responding to non-life-threatening calls.

Last month, ambulance personnel with the unions voted in favour of industrial action.

It will involve members working as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, advanced paramedics, paramedic specialists and paramedic supervisors.

They say it is as a result of a failure to implement the recommendations of a 2020 report which looked at changes to the roles of ambulance workers.

The unions said that the qualifications, clinical responsibilities and operational duties of personnel have expanded significantly over the last two decades.

‘Pay has not kept pace’

John McCamley of SIPTU, which represents 80% of personnel, said that the pay structures of the National Ambulance Service have not kept pace with the way medics work – because they are no longer simple ambulance drivers.

He has said that his members do not want to take the action but are left with little other option now. He said there will be a response to emergency incidents by paramedics.

“There will be a certain percentage of emergency ambulances available; our members are providing that.

“It would normally be tools down but we don’t want to risk the public for our dispute. We want to make sure that there is no undue risk to the public so we do have some emergency cover there,” he said. 

Advertisement

McCamley said his union was calling on the HSE to engage with the unions and recognise the need to increase pay as medics take on ever more complex work. 

“Unfortunately, we’ve been led now to take this industrial action because the HSE continue to put preconditions on talks.

“They continue to say that we have to talk about what’s the future, the modernisation in the future, without addressing what has happened in the past. And, unfortunately, we’ve been burnt too often. Promises that if we agree to modernisation, but they haven’t agreed to address the pay, so our members have said ‘no more’,” he added. 

Eoin Drummey of the UNITE union also represents ambulance personnel – he said the Roles and Responsibilities Review “recommended enhanced pay scales to reflect the growing professionalisation of the service” but “those recommendations have not been implemented”.

“Essentially, our members are paid substantially less than comparable health professionals despite carrying out equivalent, if not ever-expanding responsibility, workload and clinical accountability,” he said.

Drummey said there were short, informal discussions with senior management, but he said the HSE and NAS have not engaged in a meaningful way.

“We’re all aware of the emergency services that we have in this country, but broadly speaking, I think it’s synonymous across not only the public sector, but all workers what’s going on in terms of the ever-increasing cost of living pressures and the financial implications being placed on workers and their families. That’s not confined anywhere other than across the country,” he added. 

HSE response

The HSE said it “regrets” the unions’ decision to take industrial action and has engaged “intensively” with them with the involvement of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

They said proposals aimed at resolving the dispute were recommended to members by both unions.

According to the HSE, proposals included 3-14% pay improvements, on top of a 9.25% increase under the 2024-2026 Public Sector Pay Agreement.

The service said that in September 2025 it was informed by the two unions that the proposals had been rejected by their members.

The HSE also said that between 2022 and 2025 NAS was the focus of “a major transformation and investment programme”.

It said while the HSE and the government accept “the need to both increase and modernise pay arrangements” for ambulance staff, they are “also obliged to ensure that in exchange for significant increases in pay, our services can continue to transform to meet the needs of the public”.

The unions have planned more strikes if the dispute is not resolved.

Siptu has said a 48-hour strike is being organised for 19 May, a 72-hour one for 26 May and further action for June.

The HSE said other health services will operate normally during the industrial action and patients will be contacted if there are any changes to their planned care.

With reporting from the Press Association.

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More Support The Journal