Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I rise unapologetically to make a plea which has come to me from local interests who are very fearful of developments in the ambulance service. I applaud the motion and Fianna Fáil for recognising the work that has been done by paramedics over a long period of time. I deplore the fact that delays in ambulance response times have far exceeded both nationally and internationally accepted norms. We have a crisis in our ambulance service which is recognised in this motion.

I specifically wish to state that I have had representations from people in the Nutgrove area of south Dublin who are very fearful that if the HSE takes over this and other areas, it will force a closure of bays in Nutgrove and other areas in the centre of south Dublin. This will mean that the response times will be further reduced. It will mean that people in this area which is the centre of my constituency - I am talking about areas like Dundrum, Ballinteer and Sandyford - will not be reached in such good time because the ambulance in the Nutgrove area will be removed and replaced by those in locations decided by the HSE.

I plead with the Minister to consider giving an instruction to the HSE so people in south Dublin are not neglected or deprived by decisions of this sort and do not have to make representations to him and me in the future to ask to keep the Nutgrove bay open so that they are not dependent on Loughlinstown and Tallaght which are outside this area and too far away and to ask that we ensure that those response times are guaranteed to remain within the 11-minute or even ten-minute period, which they have traditionally been.

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