Firefighter, paramedic and Workers’ Party representative David Gardiner has called on Minister Stephen Donnelly to finally deliver the Pandemic Special Recognition Payment to Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics. Gardiner said “Back in January, healthcare workers were promised a payment of €1,000 to recognise our role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We are coming towards the end of the year now, and Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics are still yet to receive this payment.”
“We had the job of transporting people from homes and nursing homes into the hospital. Especially in the early days of the pandemic when the virus wasn’t entirely understood, this could be a stressful and worrying task. This was made worse by the level of understaffing in Dublin Fire Brigade. “Not only did we risk catching the virus ourselves, but we risked passing it on to our loved ones at home. With that said, we knew what our job was and we carried it out in service to the people of Dublin.”
“What is not acceptable to us, however, is the level of disrespect that we have been shown by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. Like many others, we worked a tough job during the pandemic, and yet we have only been met with empty words in relation to the delivery of this recognition payment.”
“It is worth noting that this has all occurred during a cost-of-living crisis. If we were to account for inflation between when the payment was announced and now, we would actually be looking at a figure of €1,067.54.” “Stephen Donnelly not only owes us €1,000, but he also owes us an explanation as to what has taken him so long to deliver on his promise.”
