Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We will move on to programme No. 4 which concerns acute services and for which the Vote is €4,831 million. The section is broken down into three subsections - acute hospitals and the national clinical strategy programme, for which the Vote is €4,553 million; the national cancer control programme, for which the Vote is €101 million; and the National Ambulance Service, for which the Vote is €176 million. These items are referenced in the analysis on pages 16 to 18, inclusive. I note that the Vote for the National Ambulance Service has increased by 6% this year. The ambulance service is under severe pressure in terms of the available numbers of ambulances and staff. A critical point is that many ambulances are tied up in transferring patients to overcrowded emergency departments. On many occasions one will see a queue of ambulances outside hospitals, taking them out of service for a prolonged period. This adds to the pressures on the ambulance service. Will the Minister comment on the issue?