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

Today is the sixth day of national strike action in the National Ambulance Service. Two weeks ago, I had an exchange with the Taoiseach at Leader's Questions on this issue. There were the best part of 100 ambulance personnel in the Gallery that day to listen to his reply. I spoke to many of them afterwards. Some told me they thought his comments were arrogant. Others again described his comments as ignorant. These front-line workers took particular exception to the Taoiseach's claim that the Government and the HSE could not tolerate six, seven, eight or nine unions in the National Ambulance Service. There are two recognised trade unions in the National Ambulance Service that represent paramedics. More than 500 ambulance staff have joined a third union, not a sixth, a seventh, an eighth or a ninth. It is their choice, not the Government's choice. That trade union should be recognised.

The Taoiseach tried to close the door on all of that. Maybe he thought he could demoralise the workers and that they might call off their campaign. If so, he was sorely mistaken. Those workers are on strike again today, which as I said is the sixth day of national strike action this year. I ask the Tánaiste the same question I asked the Taoiseach. Will he instruct the HSE to talk to this union? They may not be in the Gallery today but these workers will be paying very careful attention to the Tánaiste's answer. They have asked their union to convene an extraordinary general meeting in eight days, on Thursday, 18 April. I dare say that the decision they make in eight days will be shaped in large measure by the Tánaiste's answer to this question. A reasonable answer is likely to meet with a reasonable response. A hard-line answer is likely to meet with a hard-line response. I would not be at all surprised if that were to mean a significant escalation of this dispute.

Given the refusal of the HSE to negotiate contingency plans face to face with the union for the strike days, a significant escalation of this ambulance strike could bring dangers to public health and to public safety. I do not want that and the paramedics do not want that, but if it happens, the responsibility will lie at the feet of the Government, a Government which has been playing hardball for a long time with a group of key front-line workers who provide a vital service and who are merely demanding a basic democratic right. On the picket lines throughout the country, the Tánaiste's reply to the question will be eagerly awaited.

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