Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed the Minister is not here, considering the importance of the issue. I apologise on behalf of Deputy Thomas Pringle, who had a commitment elsewhere at 7 p.m. and had expected the Topical Issue debate to be at around 11 p.m.

This is the third day of a strike by the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, NASRA, branch of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA, which comprises ambulance drivers and paramedics. There will be a fourth day tomorrow. Since the mid-1990s, ambulance workers have campaigned for the freedom to join the union of their choice. They joined IMPACT in the 1990s but, because IMPACT did not historically represent health workers, IMPACT could not take them. They then set up NASRA and went into negotiations with the PNA, which does represent health workers.

The PNA's 6,000 members voted and agreed to accept them in 2010. The NASRA union deductions had been facilitated by the HSE to a point when the executive decided not to facilitate the union deductions in January 2018 for new members and August 2018 for all members. Approximately 350 ambulance personnel were affected by the stopping of this deduction and another 180 had filled out forms to join but could not do so because of the decision taken in January 2018. There were also 80 students who wanted to join NASRA. This leaves a total of approximately 610 of 1,380 ambulance drivers in the HSE who wanted to join the union.

These workers have been denied the fundamental right to join a union. This is not a breakaway union, as has been argued, and the PNA has negotiated for and represented members in the health service for 49 years. The NASRA branch of the PNA has represented members at the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court but the HSE has refused to engage with the union on grievance procedures and investigations. For example, representatives have been told they can attend meetings as colleagues but they cannot speak. I have never met a group of workers who need union representation more in the workplace. Their conditions and pay are atrocious. After 11 years of increments they are on €36,000, and they start on approximately €24,000. I do not know if the Minister of State or the Minister has seen the HSE national staff survey from 2016, with another one produced during the week for 2018. It contains a question as to whether an employee has experienced bullying or harassment in an organisation in the past two years; 48% of workers in the National Ambulance Service, NAS, said they had but this increased in the two years to 68% in 2018. It is absolutely scandalous.

I could reel off another few points but maybe other Deputies will raise them. This must be negotiated and fixed. We had a meeting yesterday in the AV room and a cross-party delegation wants to meet the Minister for Health to discuss the matter.

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