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Those proposals haven't been accepted by the members, so therefore they're not accepted by the union.

And that is why this action is taking.

So twice before, we have voted that we would go on strike if talks didn't happen.

We backed down from those strike threats.

at the time and didn't go on with any industrial action to sit around the table.

So we've done that twice in good faith.

Both times it was more or less the same offer that's on the table and that offer isn't what was recommended that should be given to the staff that work in the ambulance service.

What was on the table is we will change your pay scales if there's a change to the job going forward.

Now, our staff are not against change because we've changed for the last 20 years.

And if the change is medical, if it's medicines, if it's a medical procedure, if it's something that's of benefit to patients, we've taken all that training.

We've taken all that upskilling.

We've taken all that professional development.

We've gone to degree courses.

We're now undergoing master's courses.

So we've taken all that training.

That's never in question.

The changes that are being looked for, you know, are really in relation to by the HSE are a change going forward and maybe how the job will be paid and structured in terms of overtime rates, in terms of crewing models, which means, you know, instead of what the public now gets in an emergency ambulance is a minimum of two paramedics.

the Department of Health are looking at a minimum model of one paramedic and one EMT, which is cheaper for the service to run.

They're looking at changes to, you know, how allowances are paid, which would then also mean that that's a cheaper model in going forward.

Well, I suppose there's always a worry about patient safety.