Mr. Tony O'Brien:

It is normal practice to carry out rolling reviews of the effectiveness of the deployment of ambulance services, particularly in the context of the significant increase in demand for such services that we are seeing. These reviews are not about cutting services, but about ensuring the disposition of ambulances at particular times and in particular places corresponds as effectively as possible to the known pattern of demand. That would be as true in the mid-west as it is in other locations. This is an ongoing process, particularly in the era of dynamic deployment which relates to the totality of ambulance fleet.