Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Page 59 of the programme for Government states there will be an increase in ambulance emergency medical technicians and paramedics every year to improve response times, as well as a commitment to expand the national first responder network. The situation whereby it takes 80 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to an incident is completely unacceptable and it is failing people living in rural areas. Carrick-on-Shannon, for instance, has just one ambulance and one crew. During busy times, that ambulance can be servicing Longford, Mullingar, Cavan and Monaghan, which leaves that area very much exposed. We need a second ambulance and crew. A number of technicians have qualified in the past 18 months but most of those people have been taken to Dublin, which I understand.

The first responder schemes need to be rolled out in the north west. In Dublin, firefighters are trained to paramedic level. That means there are paramedics available on a 24-7 basis in the event of an emergency. What is the status of discussions between the national ambulance service and the national directorate for fire and emergency management on the issue of first responder provision? I am aware they are in discussions.

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