Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will know that I cannot comment on individual cases. I was not given prior notification that the Deputy would raise this individual case but, certainly, if he wants to give me the details, I will have the position checked by the National Ambulance Service. It is important to point out that there has been a significant increase in investment in the ambulance service in recent years. The budget will increase by €7 million this year and it increased by €5 million last year. We now have the emergency air ambulance service, which did not exist until this Government came to office. We have the rapid response vehicles which take paramedics to people's homes. We are moving away from an ambulance service that is just about transporting people to hospital to one which ensures that they are given emergency treatment by paramedics both in their homes and at the roadside. That is a major improvement. We have also opened the new national emergency operation centre, NEOC, in Tallaght and we are increasing investment in community first response teams. Therefore, there is a big programme of reform, investment, change and improvement under way in our ambulance service. That will continue. No matter what role, if any, I hold in the next Dáil, the Deputy may rest assured that I will continue to take an interest in ambulance services. If I ever get time off, one thing I would love to do is retrain in advanced cardiac life support, ACLS, and advanced trauma life support, ATLS, and perhaps I can actually become a community first responder myself.

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