Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just for the record, there are serious claims of wrongdoing by NAMA. I have written to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance about this matter. I have yet to receive a satisfactory reply.

I want to raise another issue here this morning. I have sent notice of this matter to the Taoiseach because it is very serious. On 26 August last, the two back wheels of an ambulance coming from Letterkenny fell off outside Sligo. The vehicle was carrying a chronically ill patient on a life-support unit, a nurse, two anaesthetists and two paramedics. The skill of the driver prevented this accident from becoming a much more serious incident with lives lost. The patient in question subsequently died, although it is not believed that the accident played any part in this. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire orthu. Understandably, there was a delay of at least 30 minutes while a new ambulance was sent for. The ambulance which lost its wheels, which is a Mercedes Sprinter 515 model, is eight years old and has 411,000 km on the clock. That means it has been travelling 50,000 km a year.

The nub of my question and of the concern that is being expressed about this matter relates to an inspection report that has been carried out by an independent consulting engineer and assessor. According to the report, there is a serious design flaw with this model of ambulance. The engineer and assessor has suggested that the vehicle design has a major negative characteristic in the wheel stud nut design. His opinion is that this weakness in design could result in a wheel stud failure if a sudden stress were transmitted to the vehicle via the wheel. He has said, on the basis of his experience, that the wheel studs on the Mercedes Sprinter 515 are too small.

Do we know how much of our ambulance fleet is made up of this model? The implications of this for patients, paramedics and other road users are obvious. The independent report has been with the HSE for three weeks. Has this matter been brought to the Taoiseach's attention? What steps has the Government taken to ensure that this matter is urgently and thoroughly investigated?

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