Louth TD welcomes resolution to paramedic jobs row

The news that graduate paramedics who were not offered the permanent positions they had been promised have now received job contracts has been welcomed by Dundalk TD Ruairí Ó Murchú.

The Sinn Féin TD raised the issue in the Dáil earlier this month after it was revealed that 76 graduating paramedics had been offered 16 week contracts instead of permanent ones.

Deputy Ó Murchú raised the problem with Minister of State at the Department of Health, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, last week and was told that ‘the HSE has confirmed that there are more than enough vacancies to accommodate all of this year's graduates, and there will be a permanent job for everyone’.

But the Louth deputy wanted to know how the situation arose in the first place. He said: “This change from established practices was wrong. It was disgraceful. There is no other way of saying it. 

“When I spoke to many of the senior paramedics outside, they said that one of the issues is that there has been a difficulty in filling certain positions in certain stations. 

“Prior to this, not only would the graduates have gone through the college course and placement but, on graduation, they would have received the role. 

“In addition, the role would generally have been within 45 km of their home. I brought this issue up with the Taoiseach and he came back the next day and said these graduates would get a position but they would still have to go through the process. 

“He said the graduates had been asked to select three preferred locations in a region from the available vacancies and that every effort would be made to accommodate their first preferences. The fear is that someone from Dundalk could end up in Cork. People have those sorts of worries.

“The good news that emerged last week is that contact had been made and we heard that the competition was being dropped. I would like some sort of explanation as to how this hiccup happened. 

“The graduates are being promised that every effort will be taken to ensure they can be placed as close to home as possible. Will the Minister of State come back to me on that?

“We are talking about 76 of those who are graduating now, but there were 400 altogether, so we need to ensure that they will also face the same set of circumstances, that they will have a position that we absolutely need them to have and that they can be placed as close to home as possible. I believe that is absolutely necessary”.

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Minister Murnane O’Connor said: “There are three main points. First, full-time permanent contracts will be offered to all year 3 paramedic graduates in 2026. Agreement has now been reached on those posts and they will be assigned. 

“Second, there is no recruitment embargo in the National Ambulance Service. On the contrary, 263 additional posts and €20 million in new funding have been approved this year, alongside continued and significant investment in the service. 

“Third, graduates are not facing unemployment. They have been granted a 16-week extension to their existing contracts to ensure continuity while permanent assignments are finalised under the agreed process.

“The main thing is that these graduates are valued”.