Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for being present. I express my intense irritation at having to come here to raise a Topical Issue on which I tabled a parliamentary question last week to which I received a one line answer. It is not the best use of my time, that of the Minister of State or the Department to have to draft a memo when such matters could be readily dealt with by furnishing me, an elected representative, with a half-decent answer a little longer than one sentence. I have come to the national Parliament to raise what is effectively a local issue. I would not have to engage in a 12 minute debate in the national Parliament on an issue affecting a housing estate beside a hospital with regard to a helicopter landing site if I had been furnished with a half-decent answer by the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, or the Department, but that is where we are.

Last January Beaumont Hospital made a statement on helicopter landings adjacent to it. It stated the football pitch at Our Lady of Mercy College, Beaumont would be used as a landing pad for the air ambulance service and that the initiative would be trialled over the following 12 months. It stated approximately six landings per year were envisaged, with no increase in the number of patients transferring to the hospital. It also stated the national aeromedical co-ordination centre, NACC, would manage the activation of the helipad and that the control centre dispatched Air Corps and Irish Coast Guard helicopters in support of the ambulance service for emergency calls.

A reply to a parliamentary question from a Government colleague of mine which was more complete than the one with which I was furnished stated the NACC dispatched Air Corps and Irish Coast Guard helicopters for emergencies, as well as for planned and routine aeromedical transfers, which is completely different from the response given by the area manager of Dublin City Council in July 2013 who, in answer to a question tabled by Councillor Andrew Montague, stated the national ambulance service had admitted to two test runs using the grounds earlier this year and that, having proved suitable, the grounds had been used on four occasions since. The expected six uses of the service had happened by halfway through the year. It was confirmed that transfer by helicopter was less desirable than transfer by road and that the helicopter service was used only in life and death situations, which is completely different from what was stated previously about planned and routine transfers. It was also stated the service representatives had accepted planning permission had not been granted to use the sports ground as a helicopter landing pad and would examine their options in this regard. Mr. Liam Duffy, the chief executive of Beaumont Hospital, stated in a communication with a resident that he had raised concerns about safety standards for the helipad. There are various points of views from various agencies, including Dublin City Council, the management of the hospital and those running the service.

I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health to try to obtain clarification on how long it would be used, whether it would be used forever and whether the hospital had a plan for a permanent helipad. Nobody wants a situation where helicopters cannot be used, but the residents are asking a reasonable question as to how long it is envisaged helicopters will land in their estate. I received a one liner stating it was a HSE problem. The Minister of State knows as well as I do that Deputies can wait months for an answer from the HSE. Part of my frustration is due not only to the fact that the residents are trying to find out reasonable information, but also to the fact that have I had to come to the national Parliament to raise an issue about a small housing estate beside a hospital because the Minister for Health or the Department could not be bothered to give me more than one line. Now the Minister of State will make a four minute speech to flesh out the problem.

If I had been given the text of the Minister of State's reply previously, I could have worked on it and I would not have to spend 12 minutes of my time, the Minister of State's time and the Parliament's time trying to flesh out the problem.

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