Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the Deputy's persistent focus on this issue and his advocacy for emergency care in the mid-west. I do not have the details yet in terms of the timeline of the HIQA report, but I will talk to the Minister and alert her to the fact that the Deputy has raised this issue. I will say in passing that it is extremely important that we continue to develop the first responder capacity all over the country, in particular in the rural areas the Deputy identified, because it is the first responder who has the critical interaction that can save a life, be it in a cardiac arrest situation, an accident or whatever. Notwithstanding that, a report has been commissioned and I will try to get a timeline for the Deputy.

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