Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after “ambulance services provided by DFB across Dublin.”:

— implement in full the Report of the Expert Panel into Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Services in Dublin, published in December 2015.”

The Labour Party fully supports the motion as proposed by Fianna Fáil. It is very welcome that there seems to be wholehearted support for it in the Chamber. I hope this means there really will be a strengthening of the resolve to maintain the service of the Dublin Fire Brigade as it is and to properly resource it, which is the main point that is being made here tonight. On behalf of the Labour Party, I propose an addendum, rather than an amendment, to implement in full the report of the expert panel into pre-hospital emergency care services in Dublin, which was published in December 2015. In proposing the addendum, the expert panel has made a detailed report and a detailed study. I believe it would add to the motion and I hope Fianna Fáil will accept it and add it to it.

As other Members have already said, the service is not broken. It does not, therefore, need to be fixed. It needs to be strengthened but it certainly does not need to be fixed or changed in any way. There is a unique advantage in the Dublin Fire Brigade that we may not have in other parts of the State in that all Dublin Fire Brigade fire fighters are fully trained paramedics, many of whom are advanced paramedics. When an ambulance is not available, or when it is on its way to a call out, the fire tender crew can support the person who is in need of medical intervention. This is especially useful when attending road accidents. Some of the crew can attend to the casualties while other crew manage traffic or the other duties required. This is a real positive. It also allows for crews to be rotated between fire service ambulance and fire tenders so they are always out on the road responding to calls. This system reduces crew burnout rates and allows crews, through regular application, to keep their skills finely tuned.

This is a very good and positive service. The one demand and the one need is to have the service properly resourced.

My understanding is that four more ambulances and their attendant personnel are required.

The expert group has made a number of detailed recommendations. The group comprised a retired chief fire officer with 40 years of experience, an experienced chartered accountant, a consultant in emergency medicine and a long-term council official. Clearly, they had a level of expertise. In their recommendation on call taking and dispatch, they wrote that, while there were inherent differences in the approach to this work in both organisations, it was the panel's recommendation that the models in both centres be retained. The panel also believed that the transfer of 999 EMS calls from the Dublin Fire Brigade to the national emergency service would have implications for the safe management of such a large increase in the volume of calls to the latter. Critically, the panel considered that the removal of any element of the fire-based EMS model would detrimentally affect the safe delivery of that service by the Dublin Fire Brigade to the patient. However, it recognised that both providers needed to work together. Following technical advice from Mason Advisory, the panel was satisfied that a technology-based solution would address those concerns and enable mobilisation of the nearest available resource without compromising patient safety. This follows on from the HIQA reported that was mentioned.

There are positive recommendations on how the national service and Dublin Fire Brigade could co-operate, but no one is suggesting that the Dublin Fire Brigade should transfer to the national service. The brigade is doing a very good job and Dublin people are satisfied with its work. It is safe compared with services elsewhere and it should be maintained and strengthened.

I wish to acknowledge a conversation I had with a councillor, Ms Alison Gilliland, chair of Dublin City Council's special committee on fire and ambulance services and emergency management. On behalf of that committee, she has presented motions to the council, as have other councillors.

We hope that tonight's debate will lead to an assurance that the Dublin Fire Brigade will continue delivering its excellent service and that it will be adequately resourced to do its important job.

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