SIPTU Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) representatives have said that their members are not surprised by findings concerning the under-resourcing of the ambulance service in Dublin contained in a report issued by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) last week. SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, John King, said: “The findings of this report concerning the under-resourcing of the ambulance service in Dublin come as no surprise to our members. SIPTU members in DFB recently deferred scheduled strike actions in a dispute concerning the under-resourcing of the ambulance service in Dublin and the future of the DFB Emergency Medical Service. “The actions were deferred following the intervention of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr, who established an independent process to deal with the issues in dispute which will be chaired by the former former Head of the Workplace Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey. “This process provides the best opportunity to find an amicable resolution to these issues and address the concerns raised by HIQA to the satisfaction of all the parties involved. The issues to be resolved include the operation of ambulance call and dispatch services in the city. A technical solution to this issue is available which will enable both the Dublin Fire Brigade and National Ambulance Service to have sight of ambulance resources. The implementation of this solution would deal with concerns regarding the dispatch of the nearest available ambulance resource to an incident.” He added: “SIPTU has written to the Government stakeholders advising them of this process and requested that they give it the opportunity to conclude its work.” SIPTU Sector Organiser, Brendan O’Brien, said: “The HIQA report has shown that progress has been made between ambulance service providers in Dublin. Given the opportunity, further progress can be made on dealing with other matters referred to by HIQA in its report.”
SIPTU DFB members not surprised by HIQA finding of under-resourced ambulance service in Dublin
