Trade union Siptu has denied that lives will be put at risk because of its 24-hour ambulance strike.<\/p>\n
It comes as the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine warned that the strike by 2,000 workers<\/a> at the National Ambulance Service<\/a>, which began at 8am, poses \u201ca significant risk\u201d to lives.<\/p>\n Pickets have been placed at ambulance bases around the country as part of the action by crews who are members of Siptu<\/a> and Unite<\/a> and are engaged in a dispute over pay.<\/p>\n Siptu health division organiser Ciar\u00e1n Sheridan called on the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive to \u201ccome to the table\u201d for talks.<\/p>\n Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast he said, \u201cThe Minister for Health and the HSE need to intervene\u201d. Sheridan said his members were disappointedthey had to take such action, but they were \u201cabsolutely resolute in ensuring that the additional responsibilities and roles they\u2019ve taken on, in the interest of enhanced patient care, will be recognised\u201d.<\/p>\n Despite the strike, emergency cover is still in place and patients in need of urgent medical assistance can still contact 999 or 112<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sheridan said although some of their members were on the picket line, others were providing emergency care for the most \u201ctime-critical, high-acuity calls, as in the cardiac arrest, the respiratory arrest, the strokes, etc. And that is being triaged through the control centre based in Tallaght and Ballyshannon\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cCritical services are being provided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The HSE\u2019s clinical lead for emergency medicine, Dr Rosa McNamara, told RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland that emergency departments were open and urged people who need to attend and can make their own way to do so. <\/p>\n However, if anyone felt they needed an ambulance, they should call 999 – which will be fully staffed, she added.<\/p>\n However, she acknowledged the \u201creality\u201d of the strike was the number of ambulances was severely curtailed, with 46 per cent staffing, which meant ambulances would have to travel long distances <\/p>\n Sheridan said his members had been left with no choice but to strike and that they were disappointed the Minister for Health and the HSE did not intervene.<\/p>\n Sheridan said the ball was now in the Department of Health and the HSE\u2019s court. <\/p>\n Speaking to reporters in advance of Tuesday\u2019s Cabinet meeting Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin appealed for dialogue in the dispute.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s vital that such a critical service is provided to the public so therefore I think dialogue is the only way and the only mechanism to resolve this dispute. <\/p>\n \u201cI would appeal for people to engage.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it was not \u201csatisfactory for patients or for people generally that a first-responder service should be mired in industrial action at this time. That\u2019s my own view\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier, Prof Conor Deasy of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine told Newstalk Breakfast the dispute needed to be resolved \u201cvery quickly\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cIt should never have gotten to this point. It\u2019s dangerous for patients. There\u2019s no question.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if the strike posed a risk to life, Deasy replied: \u201cI think there is a significant risk. There is no way of dressing this up.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Irish Patients Association said while it \u201crecognises the immense pressure ambulance personnel are working under . . . the association believes the situation has moved beyond a routine industrial relations dispute and into an area of legitimate patient-safety concern\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients must not be used as pawns by any party in an industrial dispute,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The long-running dispute<\/a> involving about 2,000 members of Siptu and Unite is over grading and pay related to a programme of modernisation within the service.<\/p>\n It was the subject of a report in 2020. Two sets of proposals brokered by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC)<\/a> were rejected by staff last year when more than 70 per cent of those who participated in the ballot<\/a> voted against.<\/p>\n