Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response, but I need to emphasise that this reform is not like the SUSI grants system or the medical card system in respect of which there have been teething problems. There can be no scope for teething problems in the change of this system. The consequences of a failure in the system are a matter of life or death. Therefore, it needs to work 100% correctly all of the time.

As a public representative, I am not 100% confident, as a result of the recent cases in Tralee, that the system is working properly. I live in a little place called Keel on the Dingle Peninsula. One will not find it on any map and if a person from Keel called for an ambulance, I would be concerned it might be sent to Achill Island in County Mayo. What is to prevent this from happening? The local knowledge in the local centres would have helped to prevent what happened in Tralee recently. Perhaps as Deputy Arthur Spring suggested, we need to embrace technology more and explore that option.

If the director of the national ambulance service is saying the absence of postcodes is a problem, why was this change proceeded with and why was addressing the problem of postcodes not a prerequisite in making this change? I want to ensure that what happened in both cases in Tralee recently will never happen again to anybody else. We cannot afford for mistakes to be made in this crucial area.

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