Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A number of years ago, I met ambulance staff in County Sligo and they told me the arrangement in place was what they called "dynamic deployment". One would think it was NATO on manoeuvres in the south Indian Ocean. However, it was code for fewer ambulances covering a wider area. It meant that ambulances from Sligo were spending a lot of their time going up to Letterkenny, perhaps over to Castlebar, away into the midlands or up to County Monaghan. Therefore, when people were looking for an ambulance locally, it was not there. There was an incident two months ago in which a lady was hit by a car by Carrick-on-Shannon, where there is an ambulance depot. She lay on the side of the road for almost an hour an a half before an ambulance was able to come. That is the experience of many people. When there is an emergency and a crisis, we are told to dial 999 and act fast. We are told that in cases of stroke, for example, time is critical and we must react quickly to get the person to hospital and treated. Yet, our ambulance service which is there to do that, is simply failing. It has failed for a long time. This is not news to any of us in the Chamber. We have known about it for some time.

The Minister mentioned that more resources were being put in and more money was being provided. However, the experience of people is that they are not seeing those resources. That is the reality of it. When I speak to the staff, it is the same situation. There are fewer staff trying to do more work. There must be a re-examination of this dynamic deployment model, how it has worked and how it has failed. If the Government is to continue with that model, where ambulances will be dispatched over vast areas of the country, there needs to be an examination of how much more resources need to be put in to provide for that. It simply has not worked and there needs to be recognition of that. Any new design of a system which can work in future will clearly require more staff and more vehicles. Everyone that we speak to tells us that.

I wish to commend Deputy Cullinane on bringing forward the motion because every Deputy, Senator and councillor in the country, regardless of political affiliation, has been inundated with messages from ordinary citizens out there. When there is a crisis in their lives they expect to be able to get an ambulance and get to hospital. It is bad enough that when they go to hospital, they face waiting times and other issues. In their moment of crisis, the State is letting them down. It is paramount that we deliver for the ordinary people and ensure there is a proper ambulance service in place.

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