Striking ambulance staff in Kilkenny have returned to work, pending talks with the South Eastern Health Board.
A total of 17 emergency ambulance staff who staged an unofficial action at the 202-bed St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, which serves Kilkenny and Carlow, yesterday have resolved to resume full services.
The crews responded to 999 calls only in protest over changes in working conditions that they say have been forced on them by the South Eastern Health Board.
It centred on the contracting of trips to Dublin with non-emergency patients to a private operator last week.
A SITPU spokesman said today that this service remains contracted out but they have reached an agreement to ensure existing staff who formally ran the Dublin service will not be adversely affected.
"Nobody will lose their job, wages or working hours until such time as talks on the service are concluded," assistant SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Bill Mulcahy said.
"We can't stop this change, our problem was with the change of attitude within the Health Board whereby substantial changes were just announced, without talks or negotiations," he added.