AN ELEVENTH hour intervention by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has seen strike action by paramedics at three ambulance stations in north Tipperary deferred for one week.
The 25 paramedics were due to “withdraw labour” at midnight last night and had said they would only respond to 999 emergency calls.
Their action began after the Health Service Executive (HSE) enforced a new work roster which has left Roscrea town and a wider catchment area with no “on duty” ambulance for four hours three nights a week.
Following contact yesterday between the LRC and both sides in the dispute, it was agreed that the parties would meet next Thursday to discuss the matter.
As a result, the medics have agreed to defer their strike action for one week pending the outcome of those talks.
The dispute arose following the retirement in May of a nurse who worked as a second crew member with the ambulance service at Roscrea station.
At the time, there was just one ambulance available in Roscrea between 4am and 8am which was “crewed” by a paramedic based in the station and a nurse who had to be collected from her home when a call arose.
Following her retirement, the nurse was replaced by an ambulance paramedic. However, the HSE told staff that it intended introducing an on-call roster for both medics between those hours on the three days.
Following the introduction of the controversial new roster four weeks ago, crew members have had to travel from their homes to the station to collect their ambulance before travelling to calls.
Paramedics have claimed that this has resulted in delays of up to 25 minutes responding to emergencies.
Paramedics receive just €1.80 per hour for being on call.
They claim that with the new roster, when the hours are added up, they are being asked to work 18 additional days a year without pay.
One paramedic said: “This roster was introduced without agreement and is a ridiculous situation.
“It now means that if an ambulance is required for an emergency between those hours we will have to drive from our homes to the station to collect the ambulance first.
“If there is a crash on the road between a paramedic’s home and the ambulance station, and we get called out, it will mean that we will have to drive past it to collect the ambulance. It doesn’t make sense any way you look at it.
“We have agreed to defer the strike action pending talks next Thursday at the LRC. The LRC contacted us during the day and then the HSE later and we have agreed to the third-party intervention. Strike notice remains in place however,” the union warned.
The HSE said last night: “We have been informed that the strike action has been called off following talks between both sides during the day. The matter will go before the Labour Relations Commission next week.”