Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

On behalf of the Minister, I thank Deputy Nash for raising this tragic occurrence. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, and I offer our sincere condolences to the relatives of the person who has died.

From what the Minister has been informed, he understands that the man concerned had collapsed in the street and passers by came to his help and called for an ambulance. It appears that it was subsequently decided at the scene, because of the man's condition, to take him direct to hospital by car and the ambulance was cancelled. The HSE's log of calls to the National Ambulance Service bears out this version of events as the ambulance was cancelled nine minutes after the first 999 call had been received.

The Minister commends the instincts that prompted people on the street to help a fellow human being in a dire situation. No one can predict the outcome when faced with such a dilemma. The emergency services can provide advice and support over the phone while an ambulance is awaited but the confusion on the ground may have made this difficult in this case.

This case underlines the need for the reform and modernisation of the ambulance service currently underway. While it does not appear to have been an issue in this case, the move to two national call centres to prioritise and manage calls is clearly essential. It is critical that emergency ambulances are used for emergency services and that there is a rapid hand-over of patients at emergency departments.

Supported by the Department of Health and by HIQA, the National Ambulance Service is working to improve the management and integration of its services. This includes a reduction to two ambulance control centres nationally, with appropriate technology, a clinical lead for pre-hospital care, development and implementation of new performance indicators for pre-hospital care and development of standard national criteria on non-emergency patient transport.

The HIQA report "Pre-Hospital Emergency Care: Key Performance Indicators for Emergency Response Times", published in January 2011, recommends response times for first responders and for ambulances. The HIQA response time standard for transporting ambulances is 18 minutes 59 seconds for life threatening emergencies in 75% of cases. The HSE has been recording this data since January 2011 and since March 2011 has advised that it meets this standard throughout Ireland.

The National Ambulance Service has undergone significant change in order to ensure quality, safety and value for money. In line with other clinical areas, this process is ongoing as clinical needs and standards develop. I and the Minister, Deputy Reilly, believe that these developments are in the best interests of patients and that they are a key part of the Government's work to ensure high-quality emergency care.

In conclusion let me once again offer my condolences and those of the Minister to the relatives in this case.

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