Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I know he will join me in acknowledging the extraordinary commitment of the National Ambulance Service workers in delivering care for his constituents in south Tipperary and across the country. We are investing significantly in the National Ambulance Service. This year, investment will be approximately €227 million, which amounts to a €58 million increase in the lifetime of this Government.

Staffing has also increased by nearly 40% increase in the past eight years and just in the past few months, there has been another important increase.

To address the specific question about local workforce needs, the National Ambulance Service runs local targeted local advertising campaigns. In south Tipperary this has involved advertising through local radio and targeted recruitment advertising on social media platforms. The service has created a recruitment and retention working group for new recruitment campaigns for students and qualified paramedics, focusing on areas including south Tipperary.

I recently met Mr. Robert Morton, the director of the National Ambulance Service, to discuss future service development and identify further opportunities for increasing training capacity and recruitment. The National Ambulance Service college currently has 410 students at various stages of training, with 110 having commenced in the past few weeks, in January. It is great to see a pipeline of future paramedics and advanced paramedics. As the Deputy may be aware, the ambulance service is also working with several third level institutions to provide degree level courses. One such institution already does so. The service will certainly continue to expand its workforce and recruit, including as per the Deputy's question, in south Tipperary.

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