Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The main issue is local recruitment, which the National Ambulance Service has not undertaken seriously in south Tipperary for a number of years. The only recruitment is what south Tipperary ambulance personnel have done themselves but they have limited local resources and the staff are under constraints due to the number of vacancies.

The National Ambulance Service needs to be in schools and at job recruitment seminars as standard. That is simply not happening. We know that the 45 km rule has benefits but it is impacting in this case because people who live in Waterford or Limerick when they are recruited will obviously stay where they are because it suits them. There needs to be niche area recruitment by the National Ambulance Service in south Tipperary because it is not happening. The Minister mentioned Spin Southwest and Beat 102-103. While those stations cover the south-east, they are not local. We have Tipp FM and Tipp Midwest radio stations and local newspapers. We need to be more focused on south Tipperary. Beat 102-103 covers the whole south east and is listened to in Tipperary but not by the people we want to recruit to this service because it is for a younger age group. We need to be more focused on south Tipperary to allow the good personnel to continue their excellent work.

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