Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)

On behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, I thank Deputy Byrne for raising these important issues.

The Government continues to prioritise increased investment in the National Ambulance Service with an allocation of €285 million in 2025. Investment this year includes €8 million for new service developments to deliver 180 additional posts. This will help to support capacity building in our front-line emergency services, further expand NAS alternative care pathways and help to further develop NAS specialist services. As the Deputy may be aware, the NAS operates from more than 110 locations throughout the country. It actively assesses and prioritises its locations for improvement works with the aim of ensuring safe working conditions for its staff.

I am informed that a Health and Safety Authority, HSA, audit was conducted at the NAS station in Drogheda in December 2021. The HSA report highlighted some shortcomings at the station and an improvement plan was put in place to address the report's recommendations. Improvement works were completed in early 2023 at a cost of €110,000 and included modifications to traffic management, station access, egress and storage. Subsequently, in late 2023, the roof of a structure at the rear of the station, which was used as a storage area, developed a leak. Some initial repairs were carried out to address the issue, but the leak persisted. In response, the roof was replaced in October 2023 and the interior of the building was cleaned and repainted. In 2024, the HSE estates unit began a separate assessment of the ambulance station to determine the cause and severity of a number of building cracks. This process is ongoing. Should the cracks prove to be structural in nature, the intention is that funding will be provided this year for remedial works.

Turning to the matter of rapid response vehicles, RRVs, following enquiries made with the HSE, I am informed that there has been no reduction in the number of rapid response vehicles at the Drogheda station. It is important to clarify that the rapid response vehicles highlighted by the Deputy are not patient carrying vehicles. RRVs enable NAS staff to respond quickly to incidents in support of an emergency ambulance during working hours. As the Deputy will be aware, the NAS is conducting a detailed independent review of its policies and procedures governing the use of these response vehicles out of hours. This follows an initial review that identified a potential benefit-in-kind, BIK, tax liability for NAS staff using official NAS rapid response vehicles to travel between their homes and work. I understand that the HSE has written to the Revenue Commissioners to seek a ruling on whether the use of response vehicles by NAS staff outside working hours can be considered exempt from BIK regulations and a reply is awaited from Revenue.

As a matter of prudence, I also understand that in February 2025 the NAS informed all staff members of their potential BIK tax liability if they used an NAS RRV to travel to and from work. I am informed that the NAS has engaged with the relevant trade unions and that interim measures have been put in place to allow out-of-working-hours responses to emergencies to continue in a manner consistent with the Revenue Commissioners' guidelines. It is important to emphasise that the HSE is obliged to comply with Revenue Commissioner regulations on the personal use of publicly owned vehicles. It is expected that, following a ruling from the Revenue Commissioners and consideration of the review report, the NAS will update its policy on the use of NAS response vehicles accordingly.

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