INDEPENDENT Ireland Leader Michael Collins has called for immediate intervention to address what he described as a deepening crisis involving student paramedics within the National Ambulance Service.

Deputy Collins said the situation, which has raised serious concerns about pay, conditions and the treatment of trainee paramedics, represents ‘another unacceptable failure of Government oversight’.

‘Our frontline ambulance personnel perform extraordinary work in the most challenging of circumstances. The very least they deserve is clarity, fairness and proper support during their training,’ Deputy Collins said.

He said reports of uncertainty and dissatisfaction among student paramedics are particularly worrying at a time when ambulance services are already under sustained pressure.

‘We are facing ongoing challenges in emergency response times and workforce retention. It defies logic that, in the middle of such pressure, we would allow confusion or disillusionment to grow among those training to join the service,’ he said.

Deputy Collins called on the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) to urgently clarify the position of student paramedics, engage directly with those affected, and put in place a clear, fair and sustainable framework without delay.

‘These trainees are not a burden; they are the future of our emergency medical services. If we fail to treat them properly now, we risk losing them altogether,’ he said.

Vowing to raise it in the Dáil he said: ‘This cannot be allowed to drift.’