Cork ambulance staff back industrial action
'It’s not an easy job, they’re faced with extremely traumatic situations and they have to make a decision in a split second that can save a life.'
Cork Siptu members in the National Ambulance Service were among 2,000 staff nationwide who this week voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, up to and including strike action.
The decision comes on foot of a long-standing dispute with the HSE implementation of the recommendations of an independent report, published in May 2020.
Cork representative Sharon Cregan told : “The report recommended enhancement of salary scales to reflect changes to the job.
“We used to call them emergency drivers because they just transported patients," she said.
"Now the job is so much more, they have to perform lifechanging interventions. One paramedic told me that a number of years ago she dealt with six drugs, now she deals with over 40.
“It’s not an easy job, they’re faced with extremely traumatic situations and they have to make a decision in a split second that can save a life.
“This evolution of the role, which was why the report was commissioned, has not been recognised in any shape or form.”
Ms Cregan explained that a strike committee will now be formed, and make a decision about when action will be taken.
She said the HSE has been notified of the “overwhelming” result of the ballot, and “the ball is in their court now to seek to engage”.
A HSE spokesperson confirmed it had been notified of the ballot result.
They said it follows two years of engagement, including through the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), “which assisted the parties in developing a set of proposals aimed at resolving this dispute, which was also the subject of a subsequent Labour Court recommendation.
They accepted both the WRC proposals and Labour Court recommendation, but these were rejected by unions last year, said the spokesperson.
“The HSE met with Siptu and Unite on February 17, 2026, and confirmed it was committed to entering further discussion on the substantive elements of the WRC proposals, which included new pay scales for relevant grades that recognise past, present, and future transformative change.”
However, this proposal was also rejected by unions, they added.
The spokesperson said the HSE remains committed to engagement through the dispute‑resolution processes and claimed the industrial action is “unwarranted and presents a potential impact on service delivery to patients”.
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