Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The National Ambulance Service, NAS, is the State provider for pre-hospital emergency and intermediate care as part of the wider integrated health system. It is responsible for care from the point a 911 or emergency call is received, through treatment, transportation and handover of the patient to clinical teams at the receiving emergency department in hospital. As we speak this morning, serious challenges face the NAS and many paramedics are working out of substandard stations. Many stations have huge infrastructural issues, others are in a state of significant disrepair and there has been little visible investment in providing what should be a basic resource and home base for this crucial, life-saving service.

Drogheda ambulance station is one of the stations in a deplorable substandard state and it has been for a long time. The HSE commissioned a report in 2022 on foot of an inspection of the station and a subsequent inspection took place in 2024, which highlighted the dangerous conditions paramedics are working in. No report was published following the 2024 inspection despite the many complaints and concerns raised with the HSE by the paramedics. There was an additional inspection in February this year and I am not aware of any action being taken arising from that either.

The 2022 report clearly stated the station needs to be fully rewired and made a number of additional recommendations regarding subsidence issues, a green substance coming out of electrical outlets, mould present throughout the buildings and issues with vehicular access and the condition of the road in and out, which poses a risk not only to paramedics but also to the public due to impaired sight lines for access. To date, only patch jobs and essential cosmetic works have been carried out. Residents in nearby estates have noticed the off-run of wastewater from the cleaning of ambulances as there are no facilities to do this on site that allow for the safe disposal of wastewater. There are also restrictions on when the vehicles can be washed due to noise and there is no adequate housing for vehicles to protect them from freezing and ensure windows do not require demisting in cold weather conditions, which massively affects turnaround times, putting lives at risk.

Numerous concerns have been raised about the security of the current site, noting that it is wide open to the public. On many occasions, intruders have entered and An Garda Síochána has had to be called. A bigger concern is the use of controlled substances in the station and by crews. The station is wide open to the public and they cannot be secured at the current site. There is no security operational on the site. Multiple violent incidents have been reported to the HSE without any real response or resolution. It has long been established that the current premises are unsafe and unsanitary and it is wholly unacceptable that the works have not been undertaken to date. Paramedics have advised that their preference is for a new station, which is fit for purpose but to date no suitable site has been identified or proposed insofar as they are aware. They feel this building is so dilapidated that it should be condemned and cannot understand why the HSE continues to indemnify it despite it being so unsafe and unfit.

None of this will come as a surprise to the Minister. I have written to her on multiple occasions since the middle of February urging her to undertake an inspection of the station and the necessary works and to consult the NAS on the securing of a new station. To date, no response has been received. I also requested a debate on this matter under Topical Issue Matters 11 times in recent weeks, but was unsuccessful until this morning and despite the obvious and urgent need for investment in Drogheda and in this station, my call has fallen on deaf ears, which is symptomatic of the Government's attitude to front-line workers.

Local paramedics have told me that they have no space to rest during their breaks and no room or even small space to gather their thoughts and compose themselves after attending and dealing with harrowing scenarios. Demand for the services of the NAS is growing and in the Dublin north-east region, which includes Louth, there has been a 19% increase in calls in a two-year period. Fourteen personnel are based in this station, which is an increase on the 12 who were there in 2022 when the initial report was written. Taking into account the additional vehicles, there is no capacity to house all these personnel.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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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.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Increased investment is very welcome and I acknowledge that aspect of the Minister of State's response. However, at the moment, none of it is being directed to where it is needed. This issue in the Drogheda ambulance station has been going on for more than four years, as the Minister of State referenced.

He also referenced that HSE officials were themselves shocked at the end of 2021 at the state of disrepair in the station. Paramedics based in this station are majorly concerned about decisions being taken at senior level in the National Ambulance Service, which impact crews' ability to effectively and safely carry out their work. It is not just the unfit and unsafe conditions. It is soul destroying and heavily impacting staff morale. These are people we rely on to go out and save lives. It could be my life or the Minister of State's life the next time around.

I asked a couple of questions I do not feel were addressed. I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, is not the Minister and is only representing her today. However, I have asked the Minister to undertake an inspection of this station. I would appreciate if that were brought back to her. I ask that she keep an eye and that these works are carried out as soon as possible. I do not understand why we are waiting for a report initiated four years ago to decide whether remedial works are needed on a roof this year when it has been falling down for four years. There are also evident signs of major subsidence with cracks in the walls. I again ask that the Minister engage with the National Ambulance Service on a potential new site for this station. This was mooted a few years ago. There were a couple of false dawns, but to date there has been no concrete confirmation that a new site will be provided. We are flushing money down the toilet in my view.

I visited this depot. It is in a severe state of disrepair, and it is not fit for purpose to house the front-line services needed. Will the Minister of State take those three requests to the Minister? I spoke to her briefly last night. I understand she had a long day, but she said she would come back to me on it.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. In my opening statement I focused on the specific issues she raised concerning the National Ambulance Service station in Drogheda and the status of the rapid response vehicles at the station. I will now speak more generally about the National Ambulance Service's urgent and emergency ambulance performance and reiterate this Government's continued investment in this service. Demand for our urgent and emergency ambulance services rose significantly in 2024 with almost 430,000 calls received from the public. This represents a rise of almost 32,000 calls, or 8%, on 2023. Despite this increase the National Ambulance Service performance improved in 2024 in respect of both "purple" cardiac life-threatening, and "red" all other life-threatening calls when compared to 2023. The Government invested significantly in the National Ambulance Service in 2025 with an allocation of €285 million. Included in this investment is €8 million for new service developments, which will convert to a full-year cost of €16 million in 2026. As I said earlier, new ambulance service development funding in 2025 will deliver 180 additional posts in the National Ambulance Service for the front-line emergency capacity to improve access for patients to alternative care pathways, and to further develop essential specialised services such as the National Ambulance Service critical care retrieval services for critically ill patient transfers and the National Ambulance Service's aero-medical services.

The Deputy raised a couple of issues with regard to looking for a new site for the station. I will raise that with the Minister as well as the other issue of asking her to visit the site. I will convey to her that the Deputy raised it on the floor of the House this morning and would like if these issues could be addressed.