Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid that I do not have specific information to hand with regard to the ambulance service in Cork south west, or indeed any particular part of the country. The Minister for Health is beside me here in the Chamber and he will be happy to engage directly with the Deputy on this and to provide more information and answer the Deputy's questions as best we can.

On the wider issue, we are implementing a programme of constant improvement of our national ambulance service at the moment. We acknowledge that response times are not as good as they should be and ought to be. We are increasing the number of ambulances and increasing the number of staff who work in the national ambulance service and also improving and upgrading ambulance bases. Increasingly, it is a service that is provided by paramedics and advanced paramedics. These are people who can treat patients on the scene and are able to decide which is the most appropriate hospital to take the patient to. This is a really important improvement and a very important change from our ambulance service of the past. We also have an air ambulance service. The Deputy will be aware that ten years ago there was no helicopter ambulance service in Ireland. We now have two helicopters operating. This is a big improvement especially when it comes to major trauma. It is a significant improvement. This is all happening at a time when our population is rising and is ageing and the demands for health care are increasing. As a result of that, we are developing a new national ambulance strategy and the funding is there to back it up so we can improve our ambulance service, get people treated on the scene by paramedics and make sure they are taken to the right hospital where the most appropriate level of care can be provided.

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