Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for taking this matter, although I was hoping it would be the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I am seeking an update on the site for the new ambulance base for Carlow town and the delays people are experiencing in waiting for ambulances.

I welcome the announcement of the new ambulance base. This went into the capital plan recently, which is welcome. My understanding is the site is at Kelvin Grove, Carlow town. I want an update on the project and its timescale. As the Minister of State knows, ambulance paramedics in Carlow are in a prefab that is unfit for purpose. It is now 2022 and I think it is unacceptable that ambulance paramedics, who do an excellent job, are in a prefab. I am looking for an update on that issue.

My second question is about ambulance waiting times. I have spoken over the years to several ambulance paramedics. My opinion is that the system is wrong and needs to be looked at. When people call for an ambulance, for many, it can be the luck of the draw as to where an ambulance is at that particular time.

I received an email from a constituent who stated that he was waiting for an ambulance in Carlow town for over an hour. He made several calls but no ambulance arrived. He ended up having to go to his neighbour's house to get a lift to the hospital. Luckily, this was not a life-and-death situation but he highlighted it to me. In another case, a young man had been knocked down and was lying in a recovery position. To be fair, he had been attended to but, again, my understanding is that it was well over an hour before the ambulance arrived. In the next case, a man contacted the office who had an emergency call-out to his house. This man is 75 years old. When the emergency arose at 9 p.m., the doctor rang for an ambulance but the ambulance did not arrive until 12.50 a.m. that night. The man is a diabetic with a heart condition and has been in hospital with a very serious condition.

I want to know if anything else can be done in such situations. This is by no means a criticism of any work that is being done by the ambulance paramedics. Is the system working? Do we need more staff? What do we need to do to address this? The Minister of State knows it is wrong to have a 75-year-old man waiting in his home for an ambulance to call. It is unacceptable and we need to address it. Again, I stress it is the system, not the work that the ambulance paramedics are doing.

As the Minister of State is present, he knows I have been raising the issue of the primary care centre for Tullow for the last few years and I am looking for an update on that. If he does not have it tonight, I ask that he would put that in his correspondence to me when he comes back with an answer.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which she has raised on numerous occasions. Since 2016, the National Ambulance Service, including its south-east region, has undergone significant reform and modernisation involving the prioritisation of investment in new service developments, including increased workforce and fleet, and improved technology. Since the end of 2016, National Ambulance Service staffing resources nationally have increased from 1,744 as at December 2016 to 2,037 at the end of May this year, an increase of 293 whole-time equivalents, representing over 16.5% growth in staff over that timeframe. This year, an unprecedented €200 million has been allocated, which includes over €8 million for new service developments. This funding will be invested in building capacity, as well as increasing staffing within the “hear and treat” service in the national emergency operations centre, which advises lower acuity patients of appropriate alternatives to hospital transfer.

As the Deputy knows, Carlow ambulance base is an integral part of the ambulance service and has two emergency ambulances on duty at any one time. The base is supported by National Ambulance Service resources from surrounding ambulance stations, including Baltinglass, Athy, Kilkenny, Portlaoise and Enniscorthy. Dynamic deployment of available resources operates on an area and national basis, rather than a county or geographical boundary basis, to ensure optimum resource use as the nearest appropriate resource is mobilised to the location of an incident.

The priority of dynamic deployment is patient health and welfare in the context of service delivery, which means resources cannot be confined by county boundaries, barriers or borders. The national ambulance service operates a comprehensive safety management system across all of its premises throughout the south east and continues to work collaboratively with staff, the HSE capital and estates unit and external providers to ensure any concerns or issues that occur are dealt with as quickly as possible.

I am happy to confirm that the Carlow ambulance base is included in the capital plan for 2022. The HSE capital and estates unit has been in discussions with the ambulance service regarding the need for a replacement ambulance base for Carlow. As the Deputy mentioned, the Kelvin Grove site has been identified as a possible suitable site. A design team is engaged for the preparation of a development control plan, which will indicate whether it is feasible for the proposed ambulance base to be included along with two other facilities planned for the site. Once the site appraisal is completed, a capital submission will be prepared.

Given the work entailed and the timeline to move from identification and assessment of a suitable alternative site to the completion of works and building handover, remedial and refurbishment works at the existing station have been carried out to address shortcomings in regard to health and safety requirements. Further improvement works are planned for later this year. All projects being progressed must be compliant with the public spending code. The final decision to proceed with the construction of a project cannot be made until the tender process has been completed and the costings reviewed to ensure the proposal remains affordable and delivers value for money.

The Deputy mentioned the proposed primary care centre for Tullow. I do not have any information on that but I will take her views to the Minister and try to get a reply as quickly as possible.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is important that there is communication with us and with ambulance paramedics. I know the great work that is being done and the number of call-outs that are being achieved, especially during the Covid crisis. Will the Minister of State come back to me with more definite timescales and outlining the framework plan? It is important that we have a specific timescale because of the urgency of the situation. I know there are other projects earmarked for delivery, such as the plans for the Holy Angels day care centre, which is another excellent project for Carlow town. I welcome that. It is important that we get moving on the ambulance base as soon as possible and that information is communicated and updates given. I ask the Minister of State to keep that in mind and to keep me informed.

I would be very glad if he can come back to me on the primary care centre for Tullow, which was meant to have been built two years ago. I still have not found out what site has been identified for it. There is an urgent need for this facility in Tullow. I ask for it to be a priority and for the Minister of State to come back to me on it. I thank him for allowing me to raise two issues.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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We are almost at the end of the session and I am happy to help the Deputy. I thank her for raising the issue of the provision of an ambulance base in Carlow town and for allowing me to outline what has been done to help people experiencing delays. A significant programme of work is under way to transform the national ambulance service from an emergency medical service to a highly adaptable and responsive mobile medical service that is well positioned to treat patients at the lowest appropriate level of acuity, resulting in a better experience for the patient and the more efficient use of resources. A programme of reform and modernisation has been under way within the service, which includes increasing the fleet and technological improvements.

The Deputy asked for updates and timescales. I will try to get those from the Department. As she knows, Carlow ambulance base is an integral part of the ambulance service, with a replacement ambulance base included in the capital plan for 2022. That is good news.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It is great news.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Work is under way on identifying and securing a feasible site. The Deputy has raised this issue several times and it is nice to have some good information for her.

She is getting two for the price of one as I will also follow up on the primary care centre for Tullow as quickly as I can.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State.