Mr. Ted Kenny:

On the first question about the capacity review, Scotland has 5,000 personnel and the National Ambulance Service has just over 2,000 personnel. We want that to grow to double the number. We also want to see the number of ambulances extended by at least 100, if not 200 ambulances. We want that to be done in the next three to five years, at a minimum. The National Ambulance Service has been modelled on the Scottish system. We have been over to Scotland and seen how that works but, sadly, the investment in the national service in Ireland has not been to the same extent as it is in the Scottish system and we have fallen drastically behind.

I concur with what Mr. McEvoy said. The reliance on overtime in the National Ambulance Service and the DFB is causing massive burnout.

On the question relating to post-traumatic stress among our membership, there is a wide range of supports in the National Ambulance Service. I believe there are not enough and there should be a lot more. The professional ambulance personnel in this country are the first to horrifying scenes involving all ages, be it road traffic accidents or sudden cardiac arrests in young people or in all ages. There should be more resources for those personnel to help them recover after the call to such traumatic scenes.