Mr. Phelim Quinn:

There are a number of specific issues that, between the two of us, we will try to address.

On the latter point first, if the committee does not mind me saying, we have made 12 recommendations, eight of which are to be jointly addressed by the National Ambulance Service and the HSE in conjunction with the Dublin Fire Brigade. I appreciate that HIQA's current monitoring function powers are not enforceable but we would say that we have tried to orientate this report towards improvement through the making of these recommendations. We have found significant challenges within these services but we believe that these services need to continue to exist in a safe and effective way.