Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for acknowledging why I am taking this on behalf of the Department of Health. During the summer, I had opportunity to spend a wonderful week in many of the areas to which the Deputy referred. I have some small appreciation of some of the difficulties to which he has referred.

I would make the point to the Deputy that he is very strong in opposing so much of the work the Government is doing when a tax increase is put forward or a spending cut put in place. All the Government is trying to do is put in place reforms to ensure that out of the many billions of euro of taxpayers' money that are still being spent, it can provide a level of service to the Deputy's constituents that he wants to see them provided with and the Government wants to see maintained. If I have a look at what has happened here in respect of the national ambulance service and the measures being proposed there, I hope that despite the Deputy's caution, it will be seen as a way in which our front-line professionals can make the best possible use of what they have at their disposal.

It is a new region-wide service, as the Deputy is aware, that looks to put in place a better way of working to replace the current local delivery systems. It comes directly from an analysis of the needs of the south Kerry area and the best use of emergency resources, including paramedics and advanced paramedics. This plan was agreed by HSE management, union representatives and staff within the HSE so it is a model that went through consultation with all of the people who will be involved in delivering the service and puts in place a number of benefits for patients and the people on whose behalf the Deputy is raising this issue.

It replaces on-call work practices with on-duty rostering to bring south Kerry into line with most of the region. This means that during a shift, paramedic staff are at their bases or in their vehicles ready to be dispatched immediately to 112 or 999 calls as opposed to waiting for notification to come through to them. It looks to put in place the best possible use of emergency vehicles and personnel. It allows for the introduction of an intermediate care vehicle for routine transfers of patients between acute and community hospitals. It permits the retention of the ambulance stations in Killarney, Cahersiveen and Kenmare as locations for deployment in the south Kerry area.

In a modern emergency service, treatment, as the Deputy is aware, begins at the scene of an incident. The patients are assessed, treated and stabilised before being transported to the most appropriate facility. The national ambulance service has highly trained health professionals in south Kerry at paramedic and advanced paramedic level who can and will perform life-saving interventions and other advanced treatment at the scene of an emergency before moving the patient safely to an acute facility for further treatment. The Minister has been assured that many of the concerns raised by the Deputy will be dealt with in the new arrangements that are being put in place.

Under the new arrangements, an extra 126 resource hours are now in place in the three stations I mentioned earlier and the move to on-duty services also means that the entire region of south Kerry will have a 24-hour day, seven-day week emergency ambulance service. This means that the people have timely access to highly skilled paramedic and advanced paramedic staff day and night.

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