Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I read the letters in respect of this. Within the HSE, the national aeromedical co-ordination centre is responsible for the co-ordination of emergency aeromedical patient transfers to hospitals within Ireland and abroad. As part of that inter-hospital transfer service, the Department of Defence has an agreement with the Department of Health and the HSE for the Air Corps to use its fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to transport patients - children or adults - and medical teams between hospitals in Ireland and abroad on an available basis. If a call comes through, Air Corps personnel may be involved in sea rescues or other activities. The service is obviously dependent upon the availability of suitable aircraft and the availability of crews to fly them. When the Air Corps is not available, the HSE has arrangements in place with the Irish Coast Guard or private air operators to provide the inter-hospital transfers.

The Air Corps has experienced retirements of highly experienced personnel. There is a current shortage of pilots within the Air Corps, which is a central issue, but the Air Corps continues to provide an inter-hospital transfer service, albeit on a reduced basis because of that. It means that out of hours on weekdays, between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. the following day, the Air Corps does not have air crews standing by for fixed-wing aircraft.

As to what happens in the meantime, obviously every effort is being made to address this. There are 28 cadets going through three classes at present under the various stages of training to be pilots and other aircraft personnel, but that will only yield results in the medium term. The Minister for Health and the Minister of State with statutory responsibility for health are looking at what options are open now.

The Department of Defence has always kept the Department of Health aware of this. The fact of the matter is when a call comes that a transplant opportunity is available for a person, they need to know that they will be able to get to the hospital in London, elsewhere in Britain or wherever it might be within the timescale involved.

The service that the emergency aeromedical service provides is based in Custume Barracks in Athlone and that continues to operate as normal. That delivers life-saving treatment and rapid aeromedical transport for seriously ill patients throughout the country. Since its inception, it has transported 2,500 patients in this regard. Obviously, because of those unexpected retirements in air traffic control, the availability of Baldonnel as an aerodrome has been reduced. There are a number of other technical options that are being considered. The Minister of Health is meeting the Minister of State at the Department of Defence. We want to get this in such a way that there is a guarantee for people that all of the options can be considered to have a patient transferred within the four-hour timescale involved.

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