Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about the people of Carlow who have to endure long delays in accessing ambulances because the ambulance system has changed. This is unacceptable. There was only one ambulance in the base on Sunday. It seems the new system is managed through the central national emergency operations centre, which is supposed to ensure the most urgent calls get the highest priority response, regardless of the location of ambulance vehicles or base. We have a great hospital in Kilkenny but we do not have a hospital in Carlow. We do not even have an emergency response, ER, support, which is unacceptable.

I will give the Tánaiste the example of a man who fell in his garden and spent hours waiting for an ambulance to come. Another very old man also had to wait for hours. I compliment the ambulance paramedics who do an excellent job. We need a new base for the town centre because there are serious issues with the current base. I brought the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, who was in Carlow yesterday, to the base because it is not fit for purpose.

See this speech in context