Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's commitment to reconfiguration. One of the main concerns around the reconfiguration process was that the benefits to the system would be realised, but that the potential upside for the patient would not in terms of the provision of ambulance cover. I am confident the Minister understands reconfiguration, but I am not sure the mandarins in the Department of Finance fully embrace and understand what is involved.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to engage with the ambulance service. I, along with Deputy Pat Breen, had an opportunity to visit that facility yesterday and the Minister is correct that a fantastic service is in place. I fully accept and understand the need for the dynamic deployment of ambulances. This is welcome but the service still requires a significant level of investment in staffing. It is often said by Ministers that there has been an increase in staff or that a Department intends to take on more staff, but that fails to recognise that people retire. What is important is that additional staff are required over and above those needed to replace those who retire.

We need is to improve the average age of vehicles in order that the fleet is more modern. If that happened, we would not have situations like those we have had in the mid west, particularly Clare, where one or two vehicles have broken down, creating trauma for families. In a particular case, a person died on the roadside, and although that was not because the ambulance broke down, it played a part in the trauma. Such incidents do not do anything to add to confidence in the reconfiguration process.

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