Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for this very valuable motion. I want to praise ambulance drivers and paramedics in County Kerry for the great work they do. They are under increased pressure because, as we all know, doctors' surgeries are generally open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. five days a week. There are 128 other hours in every week. People get sick during those hours, be it late at night, at weekends or whenever, and need to be seen to. SouthDoc is our out-of-hours service, which is under savage pressure.

Places like Kenmare, which is central to many people in places like Lauragh, Sneem, Bonane and Kilgarvan, are often left without any doctor. For the people in Gneeveguilla‎ and Rathmore, their out-of-hours service is in Millstreet, which is in another county.

Doctors are under severe pressure. In Killarney alone, there are approximately 4,000 new people, who are refugees, etc., but there is not one extra doctor. For most patients, a quick medical response will determine their survival chances. For people who get a cardiac arrest or a stroke, minutes count. We need more out-of-hours doctor services because invariably it falls to the ambulances and the paramedics to deal with people in very rural areas in a limited amount of time. When they come to the accident and emergency department at University Hospital Kerry in Tralee, they have to wait to get their patients in.

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