Ambulance drivers forced to re-sit driving test

HUNDREDS of ambulance drivers have been forced to re-sit their driving test after it was discovered they were not qualified to drive a new fleet of emergency vehicles.

All new ambulances have to meet the standards set down by the European Standardisation Committee. However, after purchasing approximately 75 vehicles, at a cost of €138,000 each, the Ambulance Service discovered that the majority of the country’s 1,000 drivers were not qualified to drive them.

The blunder has led to the new ambulances being “parked up” occasionally, according to SIPTU’s John Duggan, a member of the Irish Ambulance Representative Council.