Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

The development of a dedicated helicopter service would involve a considerable lead-in time. Key elements of the process would include the recruitment and training of appropriately skilled staff, development and implementation of education awareness programmes, the procurement of aircraft and the identification, development and certification of landing sites. According to the report, the timescale for completion of this wide range of activities would be approximately three years from the date of a decision to proceed. My Department is exploring options on the development of a helicopter service in light of the recent study, as part of which exercise it has initiated discussions with the Departments of Defence and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. A meeting is scheduled to finalise an air ambulance service level agreement between my Department and the Department of Defence.

A more immediate priority in the area of pre-hospital emergency care is the development of the ground ambulance service. Funding provided by my Department in recent years has facilitated significant advances in the development of the ambulance service. Among the developments have been a major upgrading in training and standards, the equipping of emergency ambulances with defibrillators and the training of ambulance personnel in their use, the introduction of two-person crews and improvements in communications equipment and control operations. Principal among the developments currently being addressed are the elimination of on-call as a means of providing emergency cover, improved fleet reliability and the roll-out of the advanced paramedic training programme.

The elimination of on-call is designed to facilitate further improvements in response times. My Department is providing funding in excess of €4.3 million in the current year to facilitate the continued phasing out of on-call in a number of regions. This is a programme which I hope to be in a position to extend. My Department provided additional capital funding of €2.5 million in December 2003 and a further €4.9 million in the current year to enable health authorities to continue with the fleet and equipment replacement programmes which are essential pre-requisites for enhanced, speedy and appropriate care. In addition, the previous Minister, Deputy Martin, announced policy approval for the development of the advanced paramedic training programme and considerable work has been done to prepare the legislative base necessary to give it effect.

I am pleased to advise that the new statutory instrument amending the pre-hospital emergency care council's establishment order was recently amended to facilitate the introduction of the training programme. The programme's introduction also requires the amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1988 and the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control) Regulations 1996 and the necessary legislative changes are being progressed as a priority by my Department. The combined amendments will provide a statutory basis for the administration of additional medications, such as cardiac medications, and it is intended that the expanded service will commence roll-out in 2005 following the completion of training of ambulance personnel.

Emergency care and related services have been the subject of significant departmental and management attention and investment. The Government will continue to focus on the delivery of emergency services to provide high-quality care and ensure that patient access and treatment remains at the centre of health policy.

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