Dublin Fire Brigade members have warned that lives will be put at risk over Christmas due to ambulance delays.
The fire service has been waiting to for two additional ambulances to be added to the fleet since May 2019 when it was said they should be brought in with "immediate effect".
And now as calls increase over the festive season, SIPTU members of the capital's fire service have said it is already at breaking point.
An urgent request has been made by members calling on the Government and Dublin City Council to provide extra resources.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Brendan O’Brien, said: “Our members in DFB, who are all qualified Firefighter/Paramedics, believe lives will been put at risk due to ambulance delays over the festive season.
"They have warned that the service has already reached breaking point due to under resourcing and the ongoing impasse between the HSE and Dublin City Council around the funding for the service.
“Our members are extremely frustrated that an agreement brokered earlier this year by ICTU with Dublin City Council, with the assistance of the former Labour Relations Commission Chairman, Kevin Duffy, has not been implemented by Council officials.
"This agreement dealt with all the concerns raised by Health Information and Quality Authority concerning the need for the DFB and the National Ambulance Service to have full sight of the available operational ambulance resources of each service."
He continued: “Our members are reporting responding to incidents where patients are informing them that they have had to wait up to four hours for an emergency ambulance.
"Our Control Room operators are under constant pressure as they continually have to queue emergency cases as all resources are in operation on other calls. This is not acceptable."
SIPTU Dublin Fire Brigade Convenor Shane McGill added: “We are calling on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, and Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy to remove any impediments to the implementation of the agreement.
"Our members are also making an urgent request that extra resources are placed at the disposal of the DFB during the festive period because of the increase in incidents at this time period.”
