Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I will ask the Minister of State a question and I would like a "Yes" or "No" answer. Has she read the HSE national staff survey for 2018? If she has, is she aware of the shocking figures it produces for the National Ambulance Service? Is she aware that almost 69% of staff surveyed in the ambulance service said they had experienced bullying or harassment in the past two years and that 51% personally experienced discrimination at work? A mere 8% said they felt valued and recognised in their job, with 6% expressing satisfaction with their level of pay. What does that tell the Minister of State about our ambulance service?

It tells the tale of a service that is very understaffed and short on ambulances, with perhaps 600 staff and 300 ambulances. There has now been an attempt to fill the gap by organising a quasi-military command structure in the ambulance service, where managers apply the lash to paramedics or emergency medical technicians who are overworked, overstretched and underpaid. These workers provide a vital service and are being denied their rights but they are not going to go away. Has the Minister of State read that report? How can she stand over the denial of the rights of more than 500 workers in our National Ambulance Service to be represented by the trade union of their choice?

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