Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Clearly, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, is not the Minister for Health. I accept that this week is an extraordinary one in that there is a Committee Stage debate so I ask the Minister of State to pass on my comments to the Minister and I would welcome a response if there is a further one. I tabled this Topical Debate matter on a number of occasions, possibly eight or ten, and it has now been selected. What prompted me to do so was the fact that on 19 May 2013, a 46-year-old man died in Naas. This individual may well not have survived but there was a very long delay in the ambulance arriving at the scene. He was with his 14-year-old daughter, which makes the situation even more tragic. Gardaí were on the scene quite quickly and were able to revive him but the delay in the ambulance getting there certainly did not give him the chance he needed. I am told by people working in the ambulance service that one must get to somebody within the first eight minutes or get them to a hospital within eight minutes for them to stand the best possible chance of surviving.

There have been some modifications to the ambulance services in Kildare. On this occasion, there were two ambulances available. The hospital is only a kilometre from where this happened. One ambulance was out on a call while the paramedic in the second one had to go home ill so that second ambulance was not available. The delay happened because there was no back-up ambulance.

People might not understand how large County Kildare is but it is the fourth most populated county in the country with a population of 210,000. I fully accept that developments like the call centre and other examples of centralising services can produce efficiencies but one must have an ambulance and a back-up ambulance within a realistic distance and properly staffed to make sure this scenario does not happen.

Is there a modelling system for the changes in ambulance cover which have taken place? I have no doubt an inquiry will take place into this tragedy and we will await the report.

I certainly do not want to give any indication I am criticising the ambulance workers. They can only drive and staff what is in front of them. If there is no ambulance they cannot magic it up. I wonder whether they are being put at risk when they try to arrive within the designated call-out time.

There is little point in us developing our hospital services when there is a question as to whether the ancillary services are capable of getting people to the hospital in time in an emergency. Some of the cover in Kildare has been withdrawn and it is quite difficult to figure out what ambulance cover is now available. Some of it comes from hospitals in Blanchardstown and the fire brigade service. We need to know what is the cover. We must examine the call-out times and receive assurance there is backup if someone is out sick. People are being put at risk.

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