Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hear and appreciate what the Minister of State has said. Sinn Féin appreciates that she is not contesting the motion. We have to remember that our ambulance service is a critical service that everybody wants but hopes they will not need. I will never forget meeting a fireman who was on duty the night of the Stardust fire. He recalled that it was a very quiet night before all hell broke loose. He said to me that the emergency services are like an insurance policy; we hope for the best when we are at our worst. These services should never be run to their limits.

We all feel fear in our hearts when we are in traffic and hear an ambulance siren. We see cars doing all kinds of manoeuvres to get out of the way. Instinctively, we know it is a matter of life or death. We hope that if we need one, it will come on time, but it will not if it is a Thursday in Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip, Kilcock or anywhere in the northern hinterlands of my constituency from Donadea to Johnstownbridge. There is no ambulance service operating from the Maynooth base from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. due to the austerity cuts from 2012. A person can have a heart attack or a stroke, or sever an artery, on any day except a Thursday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. With no ambulance available from the Maynooth base, he or she will be relying on an overstretched service from Naas or Tallaght. Time is of the essence and that time can be lost.

Jenny Moore contacted me last night to recall how she waited for an ambulance for almost an hour and a half outside Celbridge after a head-on collision, fearing the worst for her son in the car beside her.

I have also been contacted by a paramedic regarding two cardiac arrests in Leixlip, both on a Thursday morning last month. In both cases, the response was delayed. Imagine the pressure this puts on our wonderful paramedics, who give 100% to their work, the job and the people they come to help. The Taoiseach and the Minister of State mentioned community first responders last week. I have been involved with Maynooth Community First Responders since I held a public meeting at which I and several others established the group. It is a volunteer group, however. It offers a superb service but should complement the State service. No citizen should have to rely on volunteers for their health. No volunteer should have to carry that burden of responsibility either.

I will finish on this point. Our society has changed. People are less likely to intervene if they see some misdemeanour in the streets. However, if we saw a vandal interfering with the wheels of an ambulance, we certainly would intervene. In its neglect of our ambulance services, the State is that vandal on the street, abusing our paramedic crews and taking the wheels off our ambulances. The treatment of the ambulance services and the citizens who depend on them is really a disgrace. I will leave it at that.

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