Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. As he has said himself, it has been a more general answer and I raise that matter as a Topical Issue because I am trying to get to the crux of the issue for this family. They really deserve answers. I appreciate that this is the portfolio of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and that the Minister of State is stepping in for him today. I ask the Minister of State to bring back these specific questions to the Minister because the family deserves answers. We have met with the National Ambulance Service and that is fine but the family wants answers from the Minister with responsibility. Crucially, the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan is suffering. The family wants to know why they had to wait one hour and 15 minutes for an ambulance service on that particular day for their son who lost his life. They also want to know why, ten days later, they had to wait one hour and 25 minutes for the father.

Why was the advanced paramedic unit not sent to this emergency? Why did the doctor on call not come that night? I just do not think it is good enough for the National Ambulance Service to say, as it did in all sincerity at the meeting I mentioned, that the ambulance got lost, that no satnav was available in the vehicle and that it had no contact number for the family that made the original call. If someone in my office did not take the particulars of a constituent who came in, I would be very upset and it could be a sacking offence. This is a matter of life or death. It is not good enough in this day and age for the National Ambulance Service to answer by saying the ambulance got lost, no satnav was in use and no contact number was available. When an elderly gentlemen was in this scenario for a second time, the ambulance sat outside a local shop while the members of the crew blindly looked for directions to the house the call came from because they had no contact details.

I have written to the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the Taoiseach about this issue. The Minister kindly set up the meeting with the National Ambulance Service. The Minister and the ambulance service gave a commitment that if the family did not feel the answers were good or focused enough, the members of the family would be able to sit down with the Minister, which is the least they deserve. They want to be heard. That is all they are asking for. The Minister has written me to say that due to diary constraints, he cannot commit to a time now. This family deserves to be heard. It is not too much to ask for the Minister to provide 15 minutes out of his diary for a simple meeting. I ask the Minister of State to bring the specific questions I have asked back to the Minister so that I can get specific answers.

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