Previous contractual commitments given to newly qualified paramedics must be honoured, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, the party\u2019s health spokesperson, made his comments after raising the issue in the D\u00e1il today.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, newly qualified paramedics will not be offered permanent contracts. Instead, this cohort of graduates have only been offered a short-term contract extension, and the opportunity to reapply and compete for jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp until now, paramedics who successfully completed the training programme transitioned directly to permanent contracts. In December, this cohort of graduates were given that same assurance – that permanent contracts would be offered to them, subject to their exam results from UCC. However, that promise has been broken.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust after receiving their results, this cohort of graduates found out that they would have to compete for their current positions. This change will also almost certainly apply to current trainees when they graduate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll graduates and trainees had a legitimate expectation that they would be offered permanent contracts \u2013 so why has the rug been pulled out from under them?<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the National Ambulance Service (NAS) is understaffed, and staff morale is so low, this amounts to an act of self-sabotage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week, the Taoiseach defended this decision but appeared to be misinformed about the nature of the process. He told the D\u00e1il that graduates could select three preferred locations in a HSE health region when applying. However, this has been debunked by those affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NAS expression of interest document says that that those seeking permanent contracts must select a minimum of one, and maximum of three HSE health regions. The difference between selecting three locations and up to three regions is huge.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these graduates have made major financial commitments, based on the legitimate expectation that they would retain their current positions in their current locations. These includes mortgages, rental agreements and childcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cI raised this issue with the T\u00e1naiste in the D\u00e1il today, and he committed to engaging with the Minister for Health and the CEO of the HSE.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, this change to contractual arrangements is a major departure from long-established practice in the NAS \u2013 and it must be reversed.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 5, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Previous contractual commitments given to newly qualified paramedics must be honoured, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice, the party\u2019s health spokesperson, made his comments after raising the issue in the D\u00e1il today. He said: \u201cFor the first time, newly qualified paramedics will not be offered permanent contracts. Instead, this cohort of graduates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,726,817,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-hse","category-national-ambulance-service","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n