Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Tá muintir Chonamara ag fanacht le blianta i gcomhair sheirbhís otharchairr chuí. Tá a fhios againn ar fad cé chomh tábhachtach is atá seirbhís otharchairr agus muid i gcás éigeandála. Níor chóir go mbeadh aon duine ná pobal gan an tseirbhís seo. Bhí cruinniú againn cúpla mí ó shin, áit a ndúradh go mbeadh tuairisc déanta. Níl sé seo déanta go fóill. Tá a fhios agam go raibh go leor cruinnithe ann thar na blianta ach teastaíonn gníomh anois.

The people of Conamara have been waiting for years for an adequate ambulance service. We all know the importance of an ambulance in an emergency. Nobody should be left without such a service. We had a meeting some months ago when we were told a report would be done but it has not yet been submitted. I know there have been many meetings over the years. What we need now is not more meetings but action. I would like to hear from the Minister of State about that.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht an t-ábhar seo a roghnú. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach do chosmhuintir Chonamara. Tá siad ag streachailt le breis is seacht mbliana anois agus ag iarraidh ár n-aird a dhíriú ar an ngá práinneach atá le seirbhísí cuí do Chonamara ó thaobh otharchairr de. Bhí mé seafóideach i ndáiríre ach cheap mé go raibh dul chun cinn á dhéanamh agus go raibh muid ag fanacht ar thuarascáil. Faraor, níl sé againn fós.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this matter because it is particularly important. For seven years the people on the ground have been struggling in a very positive way. My efforts have spanned two elections, and they began before that, trying to draw the attention of the Government to the urgent need for an ambulance base in north Conamara. I hope we can make progress as a result of raising the issue tonight.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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On 19 April 2021, a virtual meeting was held with the Oireachtas Members, the ambulance campaign group in Conamara and the National Ambulance Service, NAS. The clear understanding of everybody at the meeting is that a report was to be prepared on the optimum location of an ambulance waiting base that would be located centrally somewhere in Conamara.

On 13 May I tabled a parliamentary question which received a reply stating the matter was referred to the HSE and the NAS. I asked when the report on the optimum location would be available. I got the answer, tráthúil go maith, inniu. However, there is no answer. Nothing has happened. I was told that the National Ambulance Service is focused on improving service delivery and to this end an analysis of operational resources is currently planned. In other words, it has done nothing and nothing has changed. It is vital now that we get action, as agreed at the meeting, on this issue.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here to deal with this matter.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Not at all. Like the other Deputies, I thank you for selecting this matter. I thank Deputies Connolly, Farrell and Ó Cuív for raising the issue of ambulance services in Connemara.

I am advised that the National Ambulance Service has been engaging with local representatives on an ongoing basis regarding the provision of emergency ambulance resources for Connemara. The most recent engagement involved the chief ambulance officer for the NAS west division, meeting virtually with the Connemara Ambulance Crisis group and other attendees invited by the group. Deputy Ó Cuív referred to that.

As a result of these engagements, an analysis of ambulance demand and response times for the area has been circulated. I understand from the NAS that feedback is awaited from the group. The Deputies have specifically raised the possibility of an ambulance base located centrally in Connemara to ensure the region is covered at all times. As the Deputies may be aware, the National Ambulance Service deploys its resources in a dynamic manner operating on an area and national basis, as opposed to a local or county basis. This means that emergency ambulances are not held at specified static bases, but used in a more flexible manner that reflects the population need and demand.

Dynamic deployment uses an ICT platform that provides real-time information to the staff of the National Emergency Operations Centre, who continually match currently available resources and their locations with service demand requirements. The most appropriate nearest available resource is deployed in the first instance. The baseline and capacity review also highlighted that the most effective way to improve emergency response times in rural areas is through the community first responder scheme. Community first responder groups comprise trained volunteers, who are supported and dispatched by the National Ambulance Service.

These groups respond to particular types of medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, chest pain, choking and stroke. I am advised that, at the end of February 2021, a total of 275 schemes were established, including 26 in County Galway. In Connemara, two community first responder groups have returned to service following Covid-19 stand-down, while four other groups will be reactivated.

The purpose of the question was the follow-up in regard to meetings. Prior to coming to the House today, I followed up on the issue because I did not feel my scripted response would address it properly. I want to outline the information I received just before coming to the House. The National Ambulance Service has advised that no report has been committed to in regard to a feasibility study for a base near Maam Cross and no commitment was provided for a base location, nor any report committed to. The National Ambulance Service has undertaken an analysis of demand, which consists of calls in the Connemara area, in order to understand the level of service required in the area. Further analysis of national demand is being undertaken but the ability to complete this analysis has been hampered by the recent cyberattack.

It is important to have that read into the record of the Dáil because I would be doing the Deputies a disservice to stand here and give the answer I have in front of me, which does not address the question which the Deputies raised as to exactly the position in regard to addressing the report, if there was a report, and timelines for location.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State for her honesty. I call Deputy Farrell.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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I too thank the Minister of State for her honesty. The reality is that we can all work together on this, and we see that from the fact the three of us are working together, with many other Oireachtas Members as well. What we have at the moment is just not working for the people of Conamara. That is why there is a campaign group, although that is not to take away from any of the work the Minister of State outlined in her statement. The reality is it is just not good enough for the people of Conamara and it is not working. When people get to the point where they have to call an ambulance, they are in a crisis situation and they need that professional help immediately. In the Conamara area, when they make that call for an ambulance, they cannot say with certainty that it is going to be there or that help is going to be provided. Looking at this need to be a priority. It was my understanding that a feasibility study was going to be carried out. What we clearly need is a centrally-based ambulance base in Conamara.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a ionracais, as é a chur in iúl nach bhfuil sí sásta leis an bhfreagra agus as dua a chuir uirthi féin freagra a fháil. Níl sé sin sásúil ach an oiread. I thank the Minister of State for her honesty and for taking the effort to get a further reply. Níl aon mhíthuiscint ó thaobh mhuintir na háite nó ó thaobh na dTeachtaí. There is no misunderstanding on the side of Deputies or on the side of the people on the ground. We clearly understood from the last meeting that a report would be prepared. I am not sure if the word “feasibility” was used but there was to be a report on how suitable that area was, from Maam and Oughterard out, in regard to a base location for the ambulance. That was clear but, since then, we have got nothing but evasion. Arís inniu, táim ag iarraidh ar an Aire Stáit, má tá aon chumhacht aici, freagra a fháil maidir leis an tuarascáil a gealladh dúinn nuair a d'fhreastail muid ar an gcruinniú i lár mhí Aibreáin.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Does anyone ever feel they are going backwards at an alarming rate? During the term of the previous Dáil, people came out from the National Ambulance Service to look at a location in Conamara and, at that stage, there was really no question but that a base was needed. The idea that it does not have bases such as this and that, while waiting, it moves an ambulance into a central position is incorrect. It has a number of those in County Mayo, for example. The problem with Conamara is this. If the National Ambulance Service wants to call the nearest ambulance when its ambulance is gone, it is in Galway city. It is a simple as that. What we need is action in this regard.

If we took what the National Ambulance Service said, namely, there was no commitment to look at the optimum location in the middle of Conamara, I think it is a case of mass hallucination on the part of the participants at that meeting, both the community and the public representatives, because all of us clearly understood that the National Ambulance Service was going to look around the area and find the most suitable location. We need to stop the pussyfooting. If it is not going to do it, let it come out and answer to the people of Conamara, and say it is not going to do this.

I live in the heart of Conamara, 35 miles from Galway city and far from the services. This campaign has been going on for seven to ten years and it is time it was brought to a conclusion.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this. We are fortunate that it is a Minister of State from Galway who is taking this question as I have a complete understanding of Connemara, and I have an understanding that when I leave the Bearna road to go out west, I am as close to Dublin as I am to some parts of Connemara. As to what I will do for the Deputies, the answer I got this evening was from the trauma and pre-hospital emergency care policy unit. I will organise a meeting with that team within the Department of Health, along with the members of the National Ambulance Service, within the next month. I invite all three colleagues, who are working closely together, representing their constituents on the ground, to a meeting. Perhaps we can move this agenda item forward.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you. It is outrageous that State agencies would treat this House with contempt when they produce to us, by way of an answer to a serious question, waffle rather than a substantial answer. The Minister of State is to be commended on her integrity in the manner in which she has dealt with this.