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

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. He said this should never have happened. This is happening on a weekly basis in Cork county and, from what I hear, it is happening on a weekly basis nationally. The Taoiseach needs to step in immediately. Members of the public in Cork county and city, and nationally, deserve nothing less than a seven-day ambulance service that they can access in no more than an hour, when required. There is a crisis in the ambulance service nationally. After last weekend's chaotic decision, it very much looks like headless chickens are in charge of the service. There is no confidence in the senior management structure of the NAS. As I said, staff morale is at an all-time low, lower than has been seen in the 20 years the staff have been working in it. General managers are dancing to directors' tunes and completely ignoring staff and patients alike. There needs to be a complete wipe-out of the current NAS senior managers, who are so caught up with power that they disregard mention of patients or patient care. Anyone who came out with cuts last weekend after such a grim report had been published two weeks previously must be removed from his or her position immediately. It has been widely said in Cork county that if it had not been an election year, this decision would not have been reversed. As the clock is ticking on people's lives, will the Taoiseach immediately intervene in this crisis and help build a new ambulance service that staff and members of the public can have confidence in?

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