Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister of State touched on that because it was my next point. Does the Minister of State accept that inter-hospital transfer and search and rescue top cover are obligations the State has to its citizens? There should be no question but rather an absolute mandate for the Air Corps to provide these services. The use of the language "as available" is unacceptable and inadequate and it needs to be revised. The service should not be provided as available, but should be a mandatory obligation to citizens. Just as ministerial transport is now considered mandatory as one of the four priorities, air ambulance transfer and top cover should be mandatory.

The Department of Defence must listen when it is warned about difficulties in staffing and not always be reactionary. The Department should be ahead of the curve in identifying potential risks. It should not wait until it becomes a crisis and we lose lives before it reacts. That is what the Department is doing. It is moving from crisis to crisis and reacting all the time. It is never preventing a tragedy. We need to get ahead of the game rather than to be always chasing our tails. I ask the Minister of State directly to ensure that air ambulance hospital transfer and search and rescue top cover are made priorities for the Department of Defence. They should not be provided on an as-available basis but on foot of a mandatory Air Corps obligation to provide those services to our citizens, which is what they deserve.

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