Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach needs to stop referring to things happening "for the first time" because that is the classical political response to very serious issues. The HIQA report was quite clear that over a ten-year period, there was very significant progress in the training of emergency medical technicians. The whole pre-ambulance care council and so forth which was established more than ten years ago changed dramatically what had been happening prior to then.

The key point is that the lack of any strategic planning is now evident. Something has gone fundamentally wrong with the reconfiguration. What is the response to that person in Wexford who was within eyesight of the hospital and yet it took 50 minutes for the ambulance to get there? There are probably Deputies in all parts of the House who can instance cases where the response times were simply too long. The money that has been allocated for replacement vehicles had to be allocated because the HIQA report revealed-----

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