Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Wicklow has an organisation called the community first responders. It comprises approximately 400 or 500 volunteers based in various locations who assist the ambulance service. When a call is received concerning a cardiac arrest, an ambulance may be dispatched from Townsend Street, but a local volunteer who has been trained to an acceptable standard is also called to the patient's location via a central number. It is a fantastic scheme, it is chaired by Mr. John Fitzgerald and it has been running for almost ten years.

A previous health Minister committed to rolling out the scheme countrywide, but that has not happened. Instead, it has taken off sporadically in some places. It requires little or no funding from the HSE. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister for Health to examine Wicklow's scheme with a view to rolling it out to areas, especially isolated ones, where emergency services are not available? A scheme was set up in Bray, a large town fairly close to Loughlinstown and St. Vincent's, nine or ten months ago and has already received more than 100 call-outs and saved lives around the county.

The Minister of State mentioned that a premature decision had been taken. This is where the difficulty arises. How was an individual able to make a decision to cease the service without going through the appropriate channels? The service would have been ceased indefinitely if not for the issue being raised. A system of accountability for establishing who is responsible for certain decisions does not seem to be in place in the HSE. This is unacceptable. While I accept that Deputy Ó Ríordáin is not the Minister, his reply was unsatisfactory. How are we to know that this situation will not recur if his reply did not outline the shortcomings in the first instance?

See this speech in context