National Ambulance Service managers are 'heroes at a local level'

Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy spoke recently in the Dáil regarding the news of the new benefit-in-kind tax being brought in for first responders by the HSE.

Recently the HSE announced that first responders will now be charged a benefit-in-kind tax for bringing their emergency vehicles home with them following the conclusion of their shifts.

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Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, February 25, Deputy Murphy said: “On 10 February, managers at the National Ambulance Service were instructed not to bring their staff vehicles home out of hours until a dispute over benefit-in-kind had been resolved. That particular instruction was confirmed by the Health Service Executive in a statement:

‘The HSE must comply with Revenue Commissioner regulations in relation to what in this case is the potential personal use of publicly owned vehicles. All HSE employees are covered by these rules. The HSE National Ambulance Service has identified that the number of incidents responded to by vehicle users outside of working hours is minimal.’

“The statement concluded, ‘As a public body, the HSE cannot support the use of publicly owned emergency vehicles for purposes that the Revenue Commissioner considers potential personal use or benefit.’

“I do not think there is any doubt these National Ambulance Service managers are heroes at the local level. Put very simply, they save lives. These are fully equipped and marked emergency vehicles. Such vehicles are not a luxury, and in the context of my intervention, they are not a benefit-in-kind. Our National Ambulance Service managers are not just first responders, they play a crucial role in critical incident operation, planning and management. I also acknowledge the many first responders, members of more than 200 community groups who volunteer and make themselves available in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.

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“Every effort must be made to find a resolution between senior management of the HSE and the director of the National Ambulance Service. This decision, if implemented, may lead to National Ambulance Service managers no longer being in a position to rapidly respond to calls out of hours when required. Lives could potentially be lost. I am calling on the Minister to personally intervene with the Revenue Commissioners to give urgent clarity that benefit-in-kind does not apply when it comes to emergency vehicles that are fully equipped and fully marked,” Deputy Murphy concluded.

Responding to Deputy Murphy, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Niall Collins, said: “I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, who has engaged with the Revenue Commissioners on this matter. He has been informed by Revenue that there has been no change in the legislation nor in Revenue’s interpretation of the existing legislation relating to the benefit-in-kind charge which is applicable on employer-provided vehicles or the exemption relating to the pooling of cars or vans.

“Sections 121 and 121A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provide that where a car or a van is made available to an employee by his or her employer for the employee’s private use, then the employee is chargeable to benefit-in-kind. Where such a benefit is provided, the employer is required to include that notional payment as part of the employee’s emoluments and to deduct tax through the PAYE system accordingly. An employer makes a vehicle available to an employee through the provision of the use of a vehicle, and covering any vehicle running costs, such as insurance and petrol, on behalf of the employee.

“Section 121(7) provides that a vehicle which is included in a car or van pool for the use of employees of one or more employers is treated as not available for the private use of employees, that is, not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge, if, in the tax year, all of the following conditions are met: that the vehicle is available to, and actually used by, more than one of the employees concerned; in the case of each employee, the vehicle is made available to him or her by reason of his or her employment; the vehicle is not ordinarily used by any one employee to the exclusion of the others; in the case of each of the employees concerned, any private use of the vehicle by him or her is merely incidental to his or her business use; and the vehicle is not normally kept overnight at or in the vicinity of any of the employees’ homes.

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“The Minister for Finance has asked his officials to engage with the HSE to establish whether there has been any change in policy by it in how it implements this measure. The HSE has also been asked to establish the number of people impacted by the issue.

“In addition to the exemption provided for in section 121(7), Revenue has indicated that there is a long-standing published Revenue practice that allows a vehicle provided to an officer of the State, including an officer of a statutory body, to be deemed to be included in a vehicle pool, thus not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge if: it is scheduled and verifiable that the officer is obliged to be on call outside of his or her normal working hours to respond to situations giving rise to possible contravention of law; the officer is provided with a vehicle for this purpose during the periods concerned and keeps the vehicle overnight at his or her home; and the vehicle would, but for the on-call obligation noted above, be a pool vehicle.

“In addition to the engagement with the HSE, the Deputy should note that the Minister for Finance has asked his officials to examine this matter in conjunction with the Revenue Commissioners,” Deputy Collins concluded.

Deputy Murphy thanked Deputy Collins for his engagement on the matter, and asked that should there be any update from the Minister for Finance, that the house be informed.

Deputy Collins concluded the matter by saying he will inform Minister Donohoe of the matter.
This issue was raised at the most recent meeting of the Thurles Municipal District of the Tipperary County Council.

Several of the councillors expressed their dismay with the situation, as many of the paramedics affected by this will often answer emergency calls after work hours and respond, free of charge.

The councillors expressed their desire to write to Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, to ask that he reverses this decision, stating that lives will be lost as a result of this, due to paramedics who would usually respond to our-of-hours calls no longer wishing to bring their vehicles home.

Tipperary Live contacted the HSE regarding tye matter, to which a spokesperson said: “The HSE can confirm that NAS staff do not and have never brought emergency ambulances home.

“In relation to the use of vehicles available to NAS Managers for business purposes during working hours, the HSE must comply with Revenue Commissioner Regulations in relation to what in this case is the potential personal use of publicly owned emergency vehicles. All HSE employees are covered by these rules.

“NAS managers are not on call outside of their core working hours, however, a small number of clinically qualified managers across the country have consistently made themselves available to respond on a goodwill basis outside of working hours. The HSE is engaging with the relevant trade unions to put in place measures to allow this to continue.

“Response times carried out and reported on by the NAS through HSE Service Plan performance targets relate to emergency ambulances or vehicles capable of transporting patients only. They are unaffected by the use of manager operated vehicles.

“As a public body, the HSE cannot support the use of publicly owned emergency vehicles for purposes that the Revenue Commissioner considers potential personal use or benefit.”