Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is one he has raised with me before. The national ambulance service has undergone a programme of modernisation in recent years and a number of significant service innovations and developments have taken place. These include the establishment of the National Emergency Operations Centre, a state of the art facility, from where all call-taking and ambulance dispatch is now undertaken. The centre also houses the ambulance training college.

We have had substantial investment in new technology and fleet to help improve ambulance service provision. The intermediate care service has been introduced to provide inter-hospital transfers for some lower acuity patients, as we have already discussed, and this is freeing up more emergency ambulances for more urgent calls.

We have also established the emergency aeromedical support service to provide rapid access to appropriate treatment for very high acuity patients in remote rural areas where access by land ambulance may be difficult or take too long.

I am fully conscious of the need for a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. In that regard, I assure Deputy Murphy that increased funding will be available to the national ambulance service for 2017. The detail of the improvements to be funded will be provided in the HSE's 2017 national service plan. Over the coming weeks my Department will work closely with its counterparts in the HSE and the national ambulance service to agree priorities for the 2017 allocation. I will reflect the Deputy's concerns in that regard.

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