Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the ambulance personnel who work all over this country, including Cork South-West, for their tireless work. The level of ambulance cover available for west Cork has deteriorated to such an extent that it is now actively endangering the lives and health of residents and causing severe levels of burnout and exhaustion among ambulance and paramedical staff. That view does not come from me but from the staff themselves. When I raised this matter recently with the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions he said he would have the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, engage with me to attempt to address the series of concerns that were being raised. Nothing has changed, however, and people are losing their lives. The Minister did not contact me and the Taoiseach did not get back to me.

On paper, there are four ambulances serving west Cork. These are based in Clonakilty, Castletownbere, Bantry and Skibbereen. The reality, however, is that, at best, we have two part-time ambulances because the Clonakilty ambulance spends the majority of its time in Cork city and county, while the Castletownbere ambulance is routinely tied up serving parts of County Kerry. The Bantry ambulance is often held up due to the delayed transfer of patients meaning that it too is unavailable for considerable periods of time. This is creating the terrifying scenario whereby the entire west Cork area is being left without any effective cover. This often forces people into taking understandable but high-risk actions such as putting sick and injured loved ones into a vehicle because they cannot wait the length of time needed for an ambulance to arrive.

In 2013, the people of west Cork were promised a 24-7 rapid response paramedic vehicle and the necessary staff to man it. Fast-forward one decade and here we are with only a daytime rapid response vehicle, which I was informed was out of action for at least 94 days last year. This skeleton service would not be tolerated in any other area of the country and it will not be tolerated in west Cork. The Government and National Ambulance Service need to address this matter urgently before we lose the remaining excellent staff we have to exhaustion and before more lives are placed on the line because people cannot access timely care or transfer to a hospital. This is a very serious issue. It is coming from people I know on the ground, not from me. That is the seriousness of the situation. We are losing staff due to exhaustion, which is unfair.

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