Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Today I raise the issue of the ambulance service in County Wicklow, particularly the service being provided for Arklow and Baltinglass. This issue has been raised with me by constituents who are fearful because there is not a full service being provided in Arklow and Baltinglass at the moment. It was raised recently at the Arklow Municipal District by Councillor Peir Leonard who expressed concerns about it. She read a response she had received from the HSE, which stated that the ambulance service operates a 24-7 response from its Arklow base, excluding Tuesdays when there is no cover in place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

This is not just an Arklow issue. As I said, this is an issue for Baltinglass, where there is also a limited service provided. Apparently, in Baltinglass, no service or no cover is provided on Monday nights. The reason these service gaps exist in Wicklow stems from a decision in 2012 by the HSE to drop or alter overtime operation requirements by the ambulance service. When it did that, it moved it from eight hour to 12 hour shifts. However, that left gaps in a number of stations, and rather than increasing the number of staff, the HSE decided in its wisdom that those areas could go without cover for those two particular days per week.

This has become more of an issue because Wexford Hospital is now closed. That means it is limited in the service it can provide. This is a serious concern for the people of Arklow and west Wicklow. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could give me some information on those particular services, on the response times we are seeing from those services, and on what the Minister plans to do to ensure Arklow, the corresponding district, Baltinglass and west Wicklow have sufficient ambulance cover so that people are not waiting long periods for the help and assistance they need, which is obviously putting their lives at risk.

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