Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken to a number of paramedics in my home town of Thurles regarding a lack of resources in the south-east area that is resulting in a drainage of ambulances and paramedics from the Thurles area, where they are needed. The ambulances in Thurles are based in the town with the intention of responding to emergency calls locally.

I will give the Minister of State an example of an average day for a paramedic in the Thurles area to explain to him why the service, as it stands, is totally unacceptable. During one Saturday shift, the Thurles ambulance travelled from its base in the middle of Tipperary to a call in Kilkenny, some 50 km away and in a different healthcare region. En route, the ambulance was diverted to a call deemed to be a higher risk in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny. The crew changed route and headed for the location to which it was directed. The ambulance then received another call and was told to go back to Kilkenny. The paramedics managed to make it to the location and dealt with the issue in question. The ambulance then returned to a call in Thurles anden routewas redirected to Kimaganny, County Kilkenny, a distance of 45 km from Thurles. It is worth noting at this point that, of all of the locations I have mentioned, Thurles is the only one in the mid-west region which this ambulance should serve and to which these paramedics are assigned.

While the paramedics were driving to Kilmaganny, they received a call to tell them that they were now needed in Arklow, County Wicklow, as theirs was the closest available ambulance in the area and this was a higher priority call. Arklow is 130 km from Thurles. Then, as the paramedics followed their route across the bottom half of Leinster, they were again told to stand down.

The message came through that they were now needed in New Ross, County Wexford. New Ross is 80 km from Thurles and almost the same distance from Arklow. That was not the end of it. Before the ambulance could get to the call in New Ross it was again diverted. This time, the Thurles-based paramedics were told to go to a call in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, which is 30 km from New Ross and almost 100 km from Thurles, County Tipperary, which is their base. Finally, before the paramedics were able to reach the call in New Ross, they were again directed to stand down and told instead to attend to a call in Waterford. Waterford is 50 km from Enniscorthy and 80 km from Thurles. Out of all these calls only one was in the area that this ambulance and these paramedics are supposed to be servicing. Out of these eight calls during a 12-hour shift, the paramedics only got to attend one. In all other instances they were redirected to another area either because an ambulance closer to the scene had become free or because there was a higher priority call somewhere else. These paramedics spent almost their entire shift driving around the south-east of the country. During that time the environs of Thurles, where the ambulance was supposed to be based, was left without any service. The paramedics who should have been servicing that area were in the south east. Due to lack of resources in the south east, ambulances are being redirected and taken out of the areas where they are supposed to be operating to make up the shortfall. This is simply not on and it is a bad use of resources. I would nearly say it was an abuse of resources.

I do not believe this situation is unique to Thurles. It is nonsensical that an ambulance and paramedics will be pulled out of a town in the middle of Tipperary to go to a call in Arklow. Yet, that is the reality of the situation. The timetable I have set out from last Saturday and the list of calls are not unusual. Unfortunately, they are the norm for a paramedic based in Thurles. The first obvious issue is that the ambulance should not be pulled from the Thurles area to serve in other regions unless for genuinely exceptional circumstances. It should not be a regular occurrence. Yet, that is what is happening.

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