Mr. Tim Collins:

I will jump in here if that is okay. We think the key to ensuring there are sufficient working defibrillators around the country is community first responder groups. They are volunteer-led groups but are highly trained, very effective and linked in with the National Ambulance Service in a very effective way such that when somebody calls 999, they are alerted if there is a cardiac arrest. They currently have about 1,800 defibrillators around the country in community first responder groups. We think that distributing defibrillators through community first responder, CFR, groups is the way to go because they will maintain them and ensure they are charged, ready to go and available for use. Every major workplace should have a defibrillator. This may be an issue for the Health and Safety Authority. There is a national out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strategy and a lot of work has been done on that. It links in with the ambulance service and CFR Ireland. We train many teachers around the country as part of our CPR for schools programme. About 70% of post-primary school teachers have been trained. If CPR were a mandatory part of the curriculum, we could ensure that all teachers are trained. There is a huge level of enthusiasm among teachers for this. We find it is an easy programme because the teachers like it, it is something different, young people really like to get the skill and it can be done very quickly, in less than one hour. I hope that has answered the Senator's questions.