Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister recently met a delegation from Connemara to discuss the ambulance service. I was surprised to get a reply from him yesterday telling me that the solution to the rural areas ambulance problem is a do-it-yourself job of voluntary responders. The letter says that the capacity review indicated that the only practical way to improve first response times in rural areas is through voluntary community first responders. I find this rather shocking. I accept that there are challenges in rural Ireland and that we cannot expect to achieve the same turnaround times as urban areas, but they could be vastly improved. Can the Minister tell me if that is really his policy or is that just what was written in the answer for me? It seems to me to be a shocking response. I am not against volunteerism, but I do not see why rural people are always expected to do the DIY job when urban people rightly expect it to be done properly. What is the policy on insuring that rural people do get good and comprehensive ambulance services in a timely manner?

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