Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My colleague has outlined the reason both of us and our party firmly support Dublin Fire Brigade's provision of ambulance services for Dublin. It is because it works, and it works very well. There was a 99% satisfaction rating in the last survey.

The external review in the report carried out by HIQA is fundamentally flawed because one of the members of the external review team did not declare a conflict of interest in carrying out this report. The conflict of interest is that individual is also a board member of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, AACE, which is a UK firm contracted to the HSE and which provided advice to the National Ambulance Service. All of this leads in this direction.

I also want to specifically state to the Minister for State, on the day we are discussing parliamentary questions not being answered, that on 17 October I tabled three parliamentary questions to the Minister for Health asking him to outline the procurement process entered into by the HSE and the granting of this contract to AACE UK Limited. I also asked about the conflict of interest and what references it sought regarding the individuals and, in particular, one individual, Mr. Ken Wenman, who was a board member and a member of the external review team. I also asked the Minister for Health about payments made to an organisation each year in respect of its engagement by the HSE. This was put forward on 17 October. On that date, I received a reply from the Minister stating the issues raised are operational and he had referred them to the HSE for a response. I have had no response since. The external review is absolutely flawed because it was teed up to give Dublin City Council and the HSE the answers they wanted to undermine the work of Dublin Fire Brigade.

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