Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I wish to raise the substandard and dangerous state of disrepair Drogheda ambulance station is currently in. I have over recent months raised this directly with the Minister and during a Topical Issue debate several weeks ago, I elevated major concerns around subsidence, mould, electrical faults and security and safety concerns among other things. I requested that the Minister engage with the National Ambulance Service on immediate works. I also asked her to seek an update on the long-mooted new base for paramedics in Drogheda. I also requested that she visit the station to see this dire situation for herself. To my knowledge, I do not think any of this has been actioned just yet.

This week, local media are reporting that chunks of the building are falling down, exposing holes where the rain is causing further electrical problems and that paramedics in this base, believe it or not, have to wear a raincoat to work. It is wholly unacceptable that front-line workers in my constituency, or anywhere else for that matter, are left to work in such unsafe, unsanitary conditions. What is worse is that this is known by senior figures in the National Ambulance Service and, indeed, by the Minister for some time and yet the situation is deteriorating by the day.

We need urgent intervention here. Any risk posed to the paramedics working in this station is risk posed to the lives of the people of Drogheda and beyond who they serve. I ask the Tánaiste to follow up with the Minister directly as a matter of urgency.

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