Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me, as a non-member of the joint committee, to ask questions on this issue of huge importance nationally and to people in my community. If I understood what he had said correctly, Mr. Bell appeared to indicate that a capacity review to inform the development of the ambulance service had never been undertaken. One would not organise a business or make an investment on that basis, not to mention try to run a service the purpose of which is to save people's lives. It is a terrible indictment of the health service and successive Administrations if no such review ever took place. If one cannot measure what is required, one must plan the system in a vacuum. That is simply not acceptable.

My second point relates to response times. Does SIPTU have a view on how they have evolved? Were the response times in 2007 and 2008 better than those which obtain or have demonstrable improvements taken place in the interim? Is it the case that it is not possible to compare like with like in this regard? In other words, are the metrics which obtain now different?

According to the HSE's submission, with which the committee will deal, some 43 additional staff are to be engaged this year. Does SIPTU have a view on how such staff should be deployed? Is it clear where they are going to be deployed? Will they be deployed at the new ambulance control centres in Tallaght and Ballyshannon or will they be individual paramedics who will be deployed to various locations?

I would appreciate it if SIPTU would outline its views on community responders, probably an underdeveloped feature of the service. These responders appear to be involved in the service in some parts of the country but not in others. I would appreciate it if our guests from SIPTU would outline its views on working with community responders from an operational point of view. How do full-time professional paramedics react to working with community responders?