I call on the Minister for Health to intervene in the ambulance strike because of the latest reports that only limited progress has been made in talks today with the ambulance drivers. A countrywide strike is scheduled to begin next Monday unless a resolution can be found. Signs of that resolution have not materialised so far and the threat of a dispute is great. The dispute involves both ambulance drivers in the provinces and in Dublin. In the provinces, 520 drivers and their attendants are threatening to stop work, and in Dublin, 90 Eastern Health Board personnel are also planning to strike.
A dispute by ambulance drivers could have major consequences, and disagreements appear to persist over emergency cover. I understand the Army is on stand-by if necessary. This would be a drastic step and might entrench the dispute even further. On the last occasion there was a strike involving ambulance personnel, the dispute lasted five weeks and there was much controversy about the cover provided during the strike. There was concern that some of the ambulances being used were not fully equipped cardiac ambulances, and there was controversy about the level of training of the personnel working the ambulances.
Given the vital nature of the ambulance service, I call on the Minister to intervene tonight to resolve this dispute. The Minister must realise the dispute will have to be resolved and it would be better if that were done before a damaging strike began. In the event that the dispute goes ahead, I ask the Minister to outline the contingency plan which should now be in place. When the nurses' dispute was threatened, a situation developed where the contingency plans were left until the very last minute and appeared to unwind at the time. Fortunately, the dispute did not go ahead, but had it done so there might have been a problem with cover. The Minister must ensure that nothing similar happens in any other dispute involving an essential service such as this one with ambulances.
