Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for the opportunity to address this matter today. Industrial action was taken last Thursday, 28 February, and Friday, 1 March, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. by a branch of the Psychiatric Nurses Association called the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, NASRA. The HSE has not being advised of any further days of action.

By way of background, NASRA represents approximately 350 front-line ambulance personnel out of a total National Ambulance Service workforce of 1,800. I understand that most are mainly based in Cork, the south east and Tullamore. The HSE and the National Ambulance Service have confirmed that robust contingency planning was again in place last week to ensure there was no risk to the health and safety of health service users despite this escalation in action. This escalation by the union to two consecutive days of industrial dispute was an increased challenge. The HSE has confirmed that full emergency cover was provided during the action. This means that all emergency calls were responded to. The Department of Defence made crewed ambulances available and a number of these were deployed. National Ambulance Service management closely monitored service demand and delivery on the days of the industrial action. The service has confirmed that there was no negative impact on the ability of the service to provide patient care and service delivery. It is important to restate the factual position in respect of this dispute. NASRA, which is affiliated with the PNA, is a group which is not recognised by the HSE and which, therefore, does not have negotiating rights. In addition, the PNA does not have negotiating rights for ambulance personnel. The legal position is very clear. The HSE and the National Ambulance Service have no obligation to recognise NASRA or the PNA in the context of ambulance personnel. The PNA, which is a not affiliated to ICTU, does have negotiating rights for nurses working in psychiatry and intellectual disability sectors. The main union that is recognised by the HSE for ambulance front-line grades is SIPTU. Fórsa and Unite also represent ambulance grades. The HSE deducts subscriptions at source for those ambulance staff who are members of SIPTU, Fórsa and Unite. This is consistent with the fact that these are the unions that are recognised as representing ambulance grades. The HSE does not carry out deductions for subscriptions to NASRA because it is not recognised.

It should be noted that facilitating deductions at source is not a legal right; rather, it is a concession granted to recognised unions. Of course, individuals have a right to membership of any trade union. They do not, however, have a right that such membership is facilitated or recognised by their employer. The Minister stated in the Dáil on 13 February that he would ask his officials to engage with HSE management to explore ways forward and to see if a resolution to this dispute can be progressed. These discussions are still ongoing. Any recognition of the PNA in respect of ambulance personnel could have a serious and detrimental effect on the current state of industrial relations in the health sector. This is a complicated situation which must be managed very delicately.