Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for having missed quite a lot of today's meeting because I was in the Seanad. I want to welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentation. I have one question concerning the 10% increase in emergency calls between January and December 2013. Has any reason been identified as to why there was such a substantial increase? Could we have a further similar increase this year? If so, it would be worrying. What are the witnesses' views on those points?

I also wish to raise the turnaround time for ambulances going to hospitals. Is it possible to have additional trolleys for ambulances? In that case, when someone is taken to a hospital, a replacement trolley could be given immediately to the ambulance crew, thus enabling them to do another call without delay. Does the ambulance crew have to wait to retrieve a trolley that is used to deliver a patient? Perhaps the witnesses can clarify that procedure. There is obviously quite a delay in transferring the patient from the ambulance trolley to the hospital setting.

I wish to thank all ambulance service staff for their contribution and the wonderful work they undertake. They are really dedicated and committed to the service they are providing.