Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is encouraging to see that this is finally progressing. Hopefully, it will end in a positive result. As the Minister is probably aware, approximately 5,000 people die in this country every year from sudden cardiac death. Around 14 or 15 years ago, when I used to train an under-13s soccer team, I witnessed a defibrillator saving a young person's life on the pitch. I am fully aware of the benefits of having them in as many locations as possible. As recently as three weeks ago, we were down in Glounthaune, County Cork, where Stryker, the medical devices company, sponsored three defibrillators that have been kitted out in old telephone booths along the new greenway that we are installing between Carrigtohill and Glanmire. We are fully aware of the importance of these machines. It is important that we get them out to as many areas as possible. I ask the Minister to expand on precisely what process must happen on the EU side before we see the introduction of these VAT changes.

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