Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, to the Chamber. West Cork does not have what one would call a normal accident and emergency unit. We have a good service in Bantry hospital that covers cardiac and respiratory emergencies but we do not have a dedicated accident and emergency unit. Our ambulance service is our accident and emergency service. This week, the people of Skibbereen and its hinterland have been left without this service. The sick leave of one paramedic has effectively led to the withdrawal of the ambulance service in the area. One quarter of the entire west Cork ambulance service has been taken off the roster.

I do not know whether anybody knows how terrified the people of Skibbereen are over the prospect of not having ambulance cover. In the absence of a new role for the ambulance service in west Cork, such as dynamic dispersal or allocation, as might have been spoken about by the Minister, we have no appropriate service. The existing service is very rigid. Due to the absence of one paramedic, the ambulance service has been withdrawn from the people of Skibbereen. This is hard to take. The public service is used to an embargo on recruitment and overtime, but these embargoes should not apply to emergency services. It is not right that a service cannot cope if one person takes a sick day. There are many HSE managers who are well paid to do what they should be doing, namely, manage. This is a classic case of management that cannot deal with the redeployment necessary to maintain basic emergency services for Skibbereen. This is not because of an overtime issue. I ask sincerely that the Minister of State, through her office, instruct the management to do what it is paid to do, that is, manage the situation.

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