Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to hear about the extended time to an hour and a half but with most of the places to which I refer, an hour and a half would get one there but would not get one back again. I am talking about places where it would take an ambulance well over two hours and up to three hours to get out and get back. The local ambulance, on the other hand, is run on a voluntary basis by people who work to serve their communities and who have huge dedication. They are fully qualified and have received training from organisations like the Red Cross and the Order of Malta, which adhere to very high standards. No explanation has been given as to why they can transport patients who were injured at sports events and so forth but cannot pick people up who need to be brought to hospital. Perhaps the Minister would inquire into this matter because we are always talking about communities helping themselves in this country but it seems that often, when they do, they are rocked back by some rules that come out of the blue and for which there seems to be very little justification.

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