No paramedics have been recruited in 2025 despite staff shortfall

The National Ambulance Service has highlighted the need for 1,080 extra staff in the immediate term.

Newly released figures show that no paramedics and just one EMT has been hired so far this year despite an identified shortfall of over 1,000 staff.

In a report presented to the HSE last year, the National Ambulance Service (NAS) highlighted the need for 1,080 extra staff in the immediate term.

The latest data, which runs up to April 2025, shows that just five paramedics and 12 EMTs have been hired since January 2024.

The figures, released to Aontú TD Paul Lawless, show that 89 student paramedics were hired so far this year but they will require further training before they are fully qualified.

As of May, there are currently 54 active candidates on the qualified paramedic panel with a further 98 on the EMT panel.

That there are candidates who have completed all the necessary qualification steps and are ready to work but "left in a state of limbo" on panels is nothing short of absurd, Mr Lawless said.

"The National Recruitment Service should be streamlining the hiring process so we can get these people out working as soon as possible."

Mr Lawless said the current recruitment rate is utterly unsustainable and will not even cover retirements and resignations.

"We are lightyears away from closing the gap. The reality is that slow response times are already costing lives and worsening medical outcomes," he said.

"Figures released to Aontú in 2024 showed that the number of people who had died by the time an ambulance got to their home had increased by 70% in the last eight years."

Mr Lawless also called for an immediate reversal of the "ludicrous" decision to ban paramedics from taking emergency response vehicles home due to rules relating to benefit-in-kind saying it could lead to an additional hour and a half to response times in some cases.