Mr. Dennis Keeley:

From my perspective, we operate a rotational system in terms of the rota. Our paramedics and firefighters rotate so that we do not have a situation where the same people are continually providing ambulance service. That works for us in terms of burnout and how we try to look after staff.

As for the exact number, the task and finish group has been given six months to finish its work, from which a model on a way forward will indicate how the joint services will deliver services for the greater Dublin area and what that will look like in terms of capacity and the number of ambulances that will be required in the Dublin Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Service. I wish I could give the Deputy a figure but it is a very complex situation that does not allow for a specific number of ambulances that will solve this problem. It is about how we work and the way we work. It is about maximising the efficiency of both services and how we deliver that, in addition to creating those alternative pathways that will reduce the number of patients arriving in accident and emergency departments.