Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)

I thank the Minister for being here in person and I thank him for his reply. However, I refer him to the second paragraph of his reply. He states:

Skibbereen will, under the new system, move to full 24 hour on-duty cover. Paramedics will be present at all times, with an on-duty ambulance during the day and an on-duty rapid response vehicle at night. The dynamic delivery model means that an on-duty emergency ambulance will be available from within the region as required.

That is simply not the case. That information is inaccurate. The official who drafted that response is, at worst, lying and, at best, grossly ignorant. The story is as I outlined in my contribution.

Does the Minister agree that removing an ambulance from a geographic area as expansive as west Cork will endanger lives? Would the Minister, or any other Deputy, if he were suffering a heart attack, prefer to see a car with one individual in it to an ambulance with trained paramedics? We are at least 90 minutes from Cork city. What the HSE is proposing will endanger lives.

I would be interested in meeting the official who drafted the Minister's response. If this is believed, the same individual would believe the tooth fairy.

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