Emmet Malone

Hi, Clare.

Well, I think it's going to get pretty serious tomorrow.

The HSE was warning of possible disruption to services today, but that doesn't really seem to have materialised.

The paramedics are on work to rule, and that seems to be mainly impacting internal services.

But both sides believe that services will be significantly impacted tomorrow when really priority will be given to emergency calls.

But outside of that, it's not clear what level of service will be provided at all.

Not really.

No, that's been one of the most remarkable things.

It's a very, very long saga.

It's rooted in a report that was done in 2020.

into the changing nature of the ambulance crew's role.

The union side here, you know, argues that over a period of 15 to 20 years, that that role has been completely transformed.

The staff who are working in ambulances are far more highly qualified, have to, you know, go in from a situation many years ago where an ambulance attendant had to do a 30-week course.

They now have level eight or level nine, that's honours degree or master's level qualifications.

there's a whole range of things that they do now, the argument being that they try to save people's lives rather than hurry them to the hospital.

And that review, that report in 2020 suggested that there should be a

a wide-ranging review of the way that had changed.

Management claimed that a lot of that has changed over the years.

And what's happened in the last couple of years is there's been two recommendations from the Workplace Relations Commission, which the unions have actually recommended to their members.

The members have pushed back considerably.