Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

Finally, to follow on from Deputy Cullinane on the allowance for advanced paramedics, I am looking at Circular 011/2009, which was issued following the Labour Court recommendation. It says clearly that in order to receive the allowance, the person receiving it needed to be continuing to practise advanced paramedic care. I do not really want to get into any specific person's allowance but, clearly, if somebody is contracted and this is part of their remuneration, that will have to be addressed in a different way because it sends out clearly the wrong message, the same way as the National Ambulance Service's refusal to answer at this committee a number of weeks ago sent out the wrong message.

I thank Mr. Gloster for his intervention to resolve that, but this clearly sends out the wrong message to the people working in the ambulance service on the ground. Are there more people at senior management level receiving this allowance but not actually practising? Maybe it is something on which a review could be carried out. For example, if an Oireachtas Chair continued to receive the allowance when he or she were no longer in that role, the public would rightly have an issue with that, in the same way in which, in my view, the public would have an issue with the perception this creates.