Statement from ISP regarding current industrial action

Back to news  

The Irish Society of Paramedicine is calling on the public to stand with frontline ambulance personnel during the upcoming industrial action. 

This dispute is not a new pay claim, it stems from years of unresolved recommendations: expanding clinical responsibility, increased educational standards, modernisation of the profession, and ongoing workforce pressures, that have never been properly addressed.

Paramedics, Advanced Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians and specialist practitioners are delivering a level of pre-hospital emergency care that has transformed patient outcomes across Ireland. Since the establishment of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), in 2000, the profession has evolved dramatically. However, staff continue to feel that recognition, workforce planning, and long-term sustainability have failed to keep pace.

In 2008, a benchmarking award of a 5% pay increase was approved for ambulance personnel. Eighteen years later, frontline National Ambulance Service (NAS) staff are still waiting. Frontline staff are exhausted from repeated cycles of engagement, reports, reviews, and promises without meaningful delivery. The McHugh/Crabtree report, published in 2020, highlighted concerns that remain unaddressed. Those concerns relate to:

• Recruitment and retention

• Unclear career pathways

• Staffing

• Role expansion without coherent structures

• Outdated grading and pay structures

• A lack of clear strategic planning for the future of ambulance services in Ireland

This industrial action is about protecting the future of the profession and, ultimately, protecting patient care. The ISP is not a trade union and is not organising industrial action. Many of our members belong to different unions, and we fully respect those affiliations and processes.

As a professional society, representing frontline ambulance personnel, we recognise the depth of frustration across the service and we encourage all members to stand in solidarity with their colleagues during this period.

We are also calling on the Minister for Health and the Government to immediately intervene before this dispute escalates further. No member of the National Ambulance Service wants to take industrial action. Ambulance personnel come to work to care for patients and serve their communities. 

Staff feel they have been repeatedly backed into a corner, while genuine concerns from the frontline continue to fall on deaf ears. There comes a point where continued inaction becomes a risk, not only to staff morale and retention, but to the long-term sustainability of emergency ambulance services in Ireland.

On the surface, this dispute appears to be about pay. There are much larger issues behind it, such as:

• Retaining skilled clinicians

• Preventing further loss of staff and emigration

• Protecting emergency response capability

• Building a sustainable ambulance service for the future

Ireland’s ambulance personnel are there for communities 24 hours-per-day, every day; often in people’s worst moments. Now, we are asking for support.

Irish Society of Paramedicine

Advocating for staff. Supporting patient care. Strengthening the profession.

#SupportNAS #SupportParamedics #ProtectPatientCare #IrishSocietyOfParamedicine #StandWithFrontlineStaff