Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
============================================================

Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

Negotiations happened and there was an agreed outcome. The two unions recommended the agreement to their members. The members were entitled to vote against it. I accept that point but the Deputy's portrayal of this is clearly dishonest when set against the facts. This is not something we should play politics with. People need the services of first responders. The HSE, the Government and I are all saying that the only way to resolve this is through dialogue and exhausting the well-established industrial relations machinery of the State, whether the WRC or the Labour Court. It is very clear that the HSE remains available to meet and engage with the unions. There will have to be discussions on this.
The investment has been significant. Overall funding has increased 41%, to €285 million, between 2022 and 2025. A 41% increase is significant. Staffing is up 28%, bringing total numbers to 2,655. About €126 million has been invested in the ambulance fleet. A further investment of €20 million is planned for 2026, with additional recruitment expected to bring the total workforce up by a further 263. There are also plans to deliver 21 extra crewed ambulances operating at peak demand, four additional intermediate care vehicles and the continued development of clinical hubs and alternative care pathways.
With regard to reforms, strengthening workforce availability and supporting new models of care, including the expanded use of special paramedics in community and urgent care settings, formed part of what was negotiated. Workforce availability measures related to night-time and weekend services and so on. Critical care retrieval and air ambulance services were also to be expanded. This is all part of what was negotiated with the unions, as was wider geographic and 24-7 coverage. Modern clinical roles were also to be recognised and grading and pay structures were to be updated to reflect the evolution of paramedic and specialist paramedic roles into autonomous, degree-qualified and professionally regulated positions. That was all negotiated by Government in good faith.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12