Mr. Paul P. Bell:

Our colleagues from Dublin Fire Brigade can provide statistics which show that an ambulance was caught at one hospital for 16 hours. This was because the patient could not be signed over to the accident and emergency department. That occurred a number of years ago. However, we still have an issue with the release of ambulances. It is not unusual to see a number of emergency ambulances sitting outside accident and emergency departments.

Deputy Regina Doherty asked about the number of vehicles available. A total of 265 emergency ambulances, 56 rapid response vehicles, 64 officer response vehicles, six motorbikes and 54 intermediate care vehicles are available. We believe intermediate care vehicles represent the future of the service. Again, a capacity review would identify this and indicate where the shortcomings were. The demands being placed on the ambulance service would also be identified and it could be properly reported how the ambulance service - both Dublin Fire Brigade which is part of Dublin City Council and the national ambulance service - would respond to these challenges.

In the context of the organisation dealing with ambulance management, our members engage with management on a regular basis on issues of concern in responding to patients and delivering a service to the community. We have overall national agreements which are aimed at ensuring we can reach local agreements to make the ambulance service work as it should. This is done through negotiation.

The real challenges lie in other areas. In the context of intermediate care vehicles, people have been recruited into the service, but more are needed in order that emergency ambulances can be made more readily available. A programme has been agreed with the union and personnel are being recruited into the service.

The ceiling has been set not by way of the moratorium as the ambulance service is one of those services that has managed to recruit staff through the efforts of management in negotiating with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform or the Department of Health. The same applies to Dublin Fire Brigade.