Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important issue. The great town of Killarney has been served by two ambulances for 36 years. Unfortunately, it has been decided as part of a reconfiguration - a wonderful word that is used by the HSE - to take away one of the ambulances that serve the town. This ridiculous decision will have a detrimental knock-on effect on the ambulance service in places like Kenmare. While I am grateful that the town will retain its 24 hour, seven day emergency ambulance service, it is obvious that the Kenmare ambulance will be called on when a second ambulance is required in Killarney. That, in turn, will mean that Kenmare and its massive hinterland, which includes places like Cuhig, Lauragh, Sneem, Bunane and Kilgarvan, will have no ambulance service.

It is wrong that this measure is being taken. It was highlighted recently by people like Councillor Niall 'Botty' O'Callaghan and my brother, Councillor Danny Healy-Rae, when we met HSE officials at a controversial briefing. While we have been fighting vigorously against what the HSE is doing, we have to be realistic at this stage and accept it is going ahead. We need to decide what this situation will mean for us. I have resigned myself to having to make certain requests. Confidence in the ambulance service in Kerry has been lost because of this move. At the very least, the HSE should make provision for busy times. Everybody knows the population of Killarney explodes during the summer, at Christmas and when Munster finals take place. Provision should be made for a second emergency ambulance service to be provided at those times. That is a reasonable request. It is also reasonable to ask for the situation to be reviewed in three months time. There should be an examination of how the new system that has been put in place by the HSE is working. It should involve all of the stakeholders, including the local GPs in Killarney, who provide an excellent service, and the local town councillors, who are unfortunately about to be abolished. While they are still in place, there should be another meeting involving people like Councillor O'Callaghan at which the manner in which the service has unfolded - how it is working out on the ground - could be discussed.

I would like to mention another aspect of this issue before I conclude. As the Minister of State knows, the emergency call-out centre has been taken from County Kerry and centralised up here in Townsend Street. I was totally and absolutely against this move because I did not think the Townsend Street facility was fit for purpose.

No external safety audit of it was carried out while an internal safety audit was carried out by the HSE itself, which was totally inadequate. Situations have arisen since that has happened and I will give one example. Rock Street in Tralee is five minutes from Kerry General Hospital. A man suffered a serious stroke recently. It was 45 minutes before the ambulance arrived for him and that was a direct result of taking our call-out centre away from County Kerry where we had local knowledge and centralising it in Townsend Street.

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