Minister must urgently intervene in National Ambulance Service staffing debacle

• The National Ambulance Service (NAS) is critically understaffed — 1,860 paramedics short of the 2026 workforce plan — with major regional gaps and no agreed workforce framework in place.
• Offering new graduates 16‑week fixed‑term contracts is unacceptable and undermines 80 trainees who expected permanent roles.
• The Minister must act before Wednesday, March 11th to resolve the contract issue and address SIPTU’s industrial action ballot through a proper framework for pay, conditions, recruitment and deployment.

Labour Party Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has today called on the Minister for Health to act immediately on the worsening staffing crisis within the National Ambulance Service. A deadline tomorrow requires 80 paramedic graduates to sign inferior short‑term contracts, while SIPTU is balloting its members until the end of the month on pay and conditions in the NAS. All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of a severe nationwide shortage of ambulance staff.

Deputy Sherlock said:

“The decision to offer temporary 16‑week contracts is deeply disrespectful to the hard work, dedication and commitment shown by these graduates throughout their training. It marks a stark departure from previous practice within the NAS, and I am genuinely concerned that these graduates are being used as pawns in a wider dispute between the NAS, Government and the workers’ union.

“There are enormous staff shortages across the NAS, and we continue to hear of ambulances failing to meet target response times — especially in the HSE West, North West and South West regions. By 2026, the NAS will still be 1,860 staff short of its workforce targets, yet there is no sense of urgency from Government to address this. That must change. A robust framework for pay, conditions, recruitment and deployment is urgently needed — in stark contrast to the ham‑fisted approach we are currently seeing around graduate employment. SIPTU’s ballot for industrial action reflects the depth of frustration on the ground and the need for all issues to be resolved together.

“As a first step, the Minister must intervene before tomorrow’s deadline to provide these graduates with concrete assurances and to begin the process of properly resourcing our ambulance service nationwide.”