Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this motion and the debate on this important issue. This is a very important issue, particularly in rural areas where people tend to live more remotely and further away from hospitals. Like every other Deputy, I am contacted by constituents every now and again who are frustrated and annoyed because they have contacted an ambulance and have waited and waited for it to arrive. This causes great distress. People call ambulances when they are in need.

Sometimes people are not aware of the way in which ambulances are deployed. An ambulance base may be located only down the road but that is not to say the ambulance is there. In my area, the ambulance could be in Galway, Sligo, Mayo or somewhere else well outside the county. This is particularly problematic where the local base only has a single crew. This is one reason the motion's call for an urgent review of the coverage of the ambulance fleet is so important. This review is key, especially in areas where there is just one crew in place. In my home county of Roscommon, for example, the ambulance bases in Loughglinn in the west of the county and Boyle in the north of the country both have single crews. This puts huge pressure on the teams in both bases. The areas of Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon are under particular pressure and when they are under pressure Boyle and Loughglinn are under increasing pressure. Yet, it appears that, rather than providing additional supports, nothing is happening.

There is a serious staffing crisis in the midlands and that is having a knock-on effect, especially in County Roscommon. This issue has been raised with me many times. For this reason, the call for a workforce plan set out in the motion is also very important.

Response times for life-threatening incidents in the west have worsened. They are now 26 minutes on average and, as my colleague noted, one often hears of people waiting for much longer. I spoke to a paramedic earlier today. His 12-hour shift last night was to finish at 7 p.m. He and his crew finished five hours later, at midnight. This happens all the time right across the board. There is a massive reliance on overtime and shifts running over is practically the norm now. Paramedics can only sustain that for so long and they should not have to. They are facing burnout. This is a serious concern which needs to be dealt with. The motion should be implemented urgently.

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