Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

In Tipperary at night there is one call out. We have 12 paramedics in training, we have recruited 12 additional ambulance crew and I accept there are industrial relations issues. International evidence suggests that the best place to stabilise a traffic accident patient is on the roadside. The golden hour or two hour rule in terms of receiving treatment is not about getting to a place called a hospital. An unfortunate accident occurred in Deputy Connaughton's area last night and, tragically, one person died at the scene and the other person died in hospital. Half of all the people who die everyday in Ireland die in hospital. It is not a question of just going to a hospital, it is about getting the people in a specialist centre as quickly as possible.

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