Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will bite my lip in respect of all the partisan comments I could make. I have too much time for Deputy Casey.

He is correct that there are deficits in the eastern region, which comprises Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. That was identified by the national capacity review, which was the first report to land on my desk when I became Minister for Health. It was carried out by Lightfoot Solutions and was the first external review of the ambulance service. It discussed putting more resources into the ambulance service. However, it also noted that even were that done, a community first responder network also would be needed because of the layout of the country and that is why we are trying to support that network. Since I received the report, I have increased the ambulance service budget at every opportunity available to me. I will again do so in 2018. I expect that the National Ambulance Service will address some of the deficits in the eastern region, including Wicklow, based on the evidence base in the capacity review.

In terms of technology, a "nearest available to the incident" system is being used, which means that the nearest ambulance to an incident, regardless of where it occurs, is sent to the location. That is a clever way of ensuring an ambulance gets to a patient as quickly as possible, no matter where in the country he or she is.

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