The 24-hour strike by ambulance workers dominated Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Tuesday with the Opposition blaming the work stoppage on Government, and Taoiseach Micheál Martin defending efforts to reach a pay deal.
In her column, Miriam Lord hones in on Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accusing Martin of refusing to address ambulance workers’ issues over pay and conditions, forcing them to fight “for respect, for recognition and for fair pay”.
Martin described this as “a very, very dishonest portrayal and presentation of the situation”.
He said a pay deal had been presented to the ambulance workers following lengthy, genuine negotiations between the HSE and the unions.
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The State offered increased pay of between 3 per cent and 14 per cent “linked to reform” on top of the 9.25 per cent public-service pay rise.
A deal was agreed and the two unions recommended it to their members.
They voted to reject it, which they were entitled to do.
He told all the Opposition speakers blaming him for the strike and demanding a resolution that the next step has to be a return to the negotiating table for further dialogue, using the “well-established industrial relations machinery of the State”.
In their news report on the ambulance workers strike, Emmet Malone and Órla Ryan outline how the two unions representing striking ambulance staff have been urged by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to re-enter talks to resolve the pay and grading dispute that prompted the 24-hour stoppage.
However, organisers said they had yet to be approached for talks without preconditions.
The HSE said the strike, involving about 2,000 frontline staff at the National Ambulance Service (NAS), had had “a significant impact” on services and waiting times over the course of Tuesday.
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine warned the strike posed “a significant risk” to lives. However, trade union Siptu disputed this.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, no talks to resolve the dispute were planned. A 48-hour strike is planned to start next Tuesday, May 19th, with a 72-hour strike scheduled for the following Tuesday, May 26th.
The dispute may well be back on the political agenda next week.
Ministerial backlash over plan to cover education overspend
It seems industrial relations issues of a sort loom within the Cabinet itself, as Jack Horgan-Jones reports.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers is facing a ministerial backlash over his plans to tighten spending discipline and introduce levies to pay for cost overruns in the Department of Education.
The Fianna Fáil Minister briefed Cabinet on Tuesday on a plan for escalating “expenditure-control measures”, which would be enacted whenever a department went beyond its budget.
He told Ministers that spending was already up by 8.9 per cent this year, above the 6 per cent targeted annually by the Coalition.
Under the plans, departments that exceed their budget could see new oversight groups – staffed by officials from Chambers’s department – brought in to supervise them.
One Minister, speaking privately, complained of “diktats” being delivered, and said those were “going down like a lead balloon”.
This view was mirrored by several other sources across Government, with the agriculture, higher education and culture departments said to be particularly aggrieved.
One Government source said the levy was akin to punishing departments that stayed inside their budget, adding: “Jack [Chambers] just doesn’t seem to care, everyone suffers now, especially the ones that have behaved.”
A source close to Chambers pointed to collective Cabinet responsibility and said it was essential budgets were managed within agreed allocations. “Departments who manage budgets sensibly, prioritise and drive reform won’t be impacted by the new measures,” this source said.
Best Reads
Our lead story today is about UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s continuing woes. London Correspondent Mark Paul writes that Starmer is set for crunch talks with health secretary Wes Streeting, who appears poised to challenge him after their party’s hammering in last week’s elections.
Elsewhere on the front page, Climate and Science Correspondent Caroline O’Doherty reports that wholesale electricity prices halved on recent windy days, according to the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), which is pleading with the Government to speed up the supply of renewable power.
Homeowners who build modular homes in their back gardens will be liable for the payment of another local property tax (LPT), Revenue has said. Ronald Quinlan and Jessica Doyle report.
On the Opinion pages Michael McDowell has a piece headlined Stop demonising one-off rural housing. Not everyone wants to be surrounded by neighbours.
Playbook
The Dáil kicks off with an opportunity for TDs to raise topical issues at 9am.
Proposed legislation from the Social Democrats aimed at removing the three-day waiting period for abortions as well as providing clarity on terminations for medical reasons is to be debated at its second stage at 10am.
Leaders’ Questions is at noon.
Government Business includes statements on the National Safety Camera Strategy and the report and final stages of the An Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 from 2.12pm.
There will be a motion without debate on extra funding for the Department of Education with any vote on it to be taken at 7.37pm.
Deferred Dáil votes are scheduled for 7.38pm.
Government Business in the Seanad includes a debate on the International Co-operation (Omagh Bombing Inquiry) Bill 2026 and statements on the action plan for insurance reform from 1pm.
The Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport will launch its report on the regulation of online platforms, and supports to improve online safety and participation at 9am.
Proposed legislation aimed at bringing in regulations on the display and advertising of nicotine-inhaling products and regulating flavour names will be debated by the Select Committee on Health at 9.30am.
The Committee on Disability Matters will look at data and artificial intelligence in disability at 9.30am.
The Committee on Transport will be looking at road safety and hearing from representatives of Alcohol Action Ireland and St Vincent’s University Hospital from 9.45am.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities will be before the Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy to be asked about energy prices, consumer protection and the role of regulation from 12.30pm.
The Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport will engage with An Post and unions on pension issues at 12.30pm.
The Committee on Enterprise will be conducting pre-legislative scrutiny of separate laws on data and artificial intelligence at 12.30. Representatives of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Children’s Rights Alliance and Digital Business Ireland will offer their views.
The Committee on European Union Affairs will look at the findings of the 2026 European Movement Ireland EU Poll at 3.30pm. Last week, we reported the poll findings, including how support for the Republic remaining a member of the EU remains strong, but fewer than half of all people in the State believe the bloc is “moving in the right direction”. Representatives of European Movement Ireland will attend the committee meeting.
The Committee on Agriculture will be looking at the issue of deer management, with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Coillte among those due to attend at 3.30pm.
The full Dáil, Seanad and Committee schedules can be found here.
