Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion as it symbolises a rising awareness among the public and a growing discontent at the state of industrial relations in this country. A positive result of the recent nurses’ strikes was the huge nationwide display of support for public sector workers and their struggle for better pay and conditions. We must give the nurses the space to decide whether they agree with the recommendations of the Labour Court.

I hope that some of that public display of support will transfer to support for another much-deserving group of workers who every day shoulder the burden in our national health service by providing necessary front-line medical supports. The issues involved will be far easier to deal with than the nurses' strike. I refer to ambulance crew members represented by the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, NASRA, who will take part in planned strike action this Friday by the ambulance personnel branch of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA. The HSE does not currently recognise NASRA as representing emergency medical technicians although SIPTU, UNITE and Fórsa are officially recognised by the State agency. A large cohort of workers have signed up to the union, with more than 500 staff represented as part of the Psychiatric Nurses Association. Dozens of work-related disputes have been addressed by NASRA, but the HSE has repeatedly refused to negotiate with it on pay-related issues or to engage on the issue of payroll deductions of union subscriptions from NASRA members. There is a clear conflict of interest in circumstances where the only union recognised by the Government is the same union representing the workers' employers. This does not represent a healthy and diverse environment for industrial relations and compromises the pay and conditions of many workers in this situation. The refusal of the Government to become involved further undermines industrial relations in this country.

I wish to bring to the attention of the Minister the results of the most recent national ambulance staff survey, carried out in 2016, which reveals much about the Government’s refusal to recognise the union of choice for ambulance crew. It was found that many ambulance staff would not recommend their employer, felt undervalued and that their performance was not recognised, lacked feedback from line managers, rated quality of communication as poor and were dissatisfied with pay levels. Most strikingly, there was evidence of discrimination, bullying and harassment. Overall, some 53% of National Ambulance Service respondents were dissatisfied with their employer. This paints a clear picture of discontent within the workforce which has been allowed to fester beneath the surface thanks to many years of the State turning a blind eye. This has created an unfair power dynamic within the workforce whereby the HSE has been allowed to ignore invitations to work on a resolution at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. In addition, the HSE has repeatedly refused to enter talks with the Psychiatric Nurses Association to use established dispute resolution mechanisms to avoid further escalated action. However, ambulance personnel represented by the PNA want the Government to know that this dispute will not go away. Support for NASRA continues to grow within the House and among the wider public. There needs to be a shift in the power dynamic. Workers should have the final say on who represents them, not the employer or the State. There is an easy solution to this strike. The invite to talks at the WRC remains open. All the Government must do is tell the HSE to respond in a positive manner, as it did with the nurses, and find a resolution with the PNA.

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