Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The HSE is carrying out a policy review and it will be able to advise me on whether these services represent value for money. It is about more than value for money. At the moment the service is essential. We need our public ambulances, our national ambulance service and Dublin fire brigade ambulances to pick up emergency cases and answer the 999 or 112 calls. In 2015, there were 308,000 calls to 999 and 112 numbers so there is a hugely increased demand. The ability of the national ambulance service to meet non-urgent patient care demands varies geographically. We try to make sure ambulances are used in urgent cases so that for non-urgent cases, such as transferring a patient from an acute setting to a residential setting, we will look at the use of private operators.

The Deputy is right that we need significant investment. An additional sum of €3.5 million will be allocated to the national ambulance service in 2017, the details of which will be set out in the service plan. I have had some very useful meetings with SIPTU on the Dublin fire brigade and the national ambulance service.

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