Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure the Minister heard me. I did discuss outputs. I indicated that 30% of people in life-threatening situations are receiving ambulances on time in this State, under this Government. That is an output. The Minister talks about change. There is change. Access to the health service is constricted at every level, including the ambulance service. The Minister also talked about what things are like on the ground: the "Prime Time" programme indicated what things are like on the ground. Despite the life-threatening absence of ambulances around the State, 60 senior management drive home, for their own purposes, in fully kitted-out ambulances worth €100,000. These vehicles lie mostly idle outside their houses for weeks at a time. We, the taxpayers, are filling their tanks. Taxpayers' money in this sector is intended to save people’s lives but it is being siphoned off to blue light senior managers on their way home.

This smacks to me of the culture of entitlement that was rife under the Fianna Fáil regime and is still coming to light with regard to the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, and Rehab. Is the Minister happy that 60 managers drive home in fully kitted-out emergency response vehicles worth €100,000, and that those vehicles are not used for their intended purpose? Will the Minister admit this is mismanagement under the remit of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly? Will he commit today to making sure this does not happen in future?

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