Ambulance workers pay dispute
Deputy Coppinger said ambulance workers were on strike because a promised 5% benchmarking increase had not been implemented and pressed for Taoiseach’s intervention. The Taoiseach said good-faith negotiations had taken place, the unions had recommended the WRC outcome, and further engagement was available.
I have just come from the picket line on Davitt Road, where National Ambulance Service workers are on strike for 24 hours because the HSE has failed for six years to implement a 5% pay rise that they are due under benchmarking. It is not just the HSE, though. The Government is their employer. They are public sector workers and they are calling for the Taoiseach's intervention. The HSE has accepted upskilling and increased responsibilities for ambulance workers, so why is it a conscious policy to not reward essential workers, whom we absolutely need for front-line services? The stress, the burnout and the tragedy that these workers see and deal with daily is horrific. Why has the HSE not been engaging with them? Will the Taoiseach call for that? Will the Taoiseach directly intervene? These workers do not want to be on strike. The last thing that they want to be doing is not providing an essential service. The last time they-----
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-----refused a pay rise it was because it was a deterioration in the service.
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I have already spoken on this earlier in the House. I accept the workers do not want to be on strike. It is wrong to say that the HSE or the Government does not want to reward front-line workers. There were good faith negotiations entered into. The unions recommended the outcome of those negotiations that came out of the WRC to the workers. The ballot was negative. The HSE is saying it is available for discussion and engagement with the unions. I think that is what should happen.