Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed that the Minister did not give more specific information on the provision of services in the West. As he is aware, response times in the west are some of the worst in the country. Difficulties include the wide geographical spread and the lack of adequate resources. The Minister's counterpart in Northern Ireland, the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Mr. Edwin Poots, MLA, said that 90% of people in Northern Ireland who suffer a heart attack outside hospital die. Does the Minister believe that the figures are similar here? I ask him to respond to the comments of the coroner for south Mayo, Mr. John O'Dwyer, who said that it was physically impossible and totally unachievable for patients in Mayo to be in the catheterisation lab in Galway within 90 minutes. The same would apply to heart attack sufferers in County Roscommon, especially since the closure of the accident and emergency department there.

What steps are being taken to improve the ambulance service in the region and to deal with the lack of a catheterisation lab north of the line from Galway to Dublin?

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