David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I need to come back in once more. I have to put it to Mr. Morton again that the response times are completely unacceptable. The percentage increase in the targets which are not being met is also really concerning. I received a submission from a qualified paramedic, titled the failure of the recruitment campaign, NRS02294. I want to read one paragraph from it and for Mr. Morton to respond to it because if recruitment is so important, we have to get it right. It states that at a time when the National Ambulance Service is experiencing a staffing shortfall of such magnitude that it has been rightly described as a crisis, the recruitment of qualified paramedics could dramatically reduce the staffing shortfall in a way that is safe, cost-efficient and readily available. It continues to state that unfortunately, the campaign for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, PHECC, qualified paramedics currently being run by the HSE recruitment service on behalf of the National Ambulance Service can be described only as an embarrassment to the National Ambulance Service, an insult to qualified paramedics who applied for the position and, overall, a complete failure. It states that only 9% of eligible candidates were offered a position in the past seven years, after an average time of waiting for deployment of 300 days on a panel of successful applicants. It states the recruitment campaign has failed to achieve its objectives.

I assume this was sent to every member of the committee. Will Mr. Morton respond quickly to that?