Marie Moloney (Labour)

I thank the Minister, Deputy Hogan, for coming to the House to take this Adjournment matter, although it does not come under his remit, on behalf of the Minister for Health.

Under the new model of the ambulance service the Health Service Executive wants to move to 24 hour on-duty cover with a view to eliminating the on-call duty. The Minister is familiar with the area being a regular visitor to Kerry and will know the Iveragh Peninsula and the Dingle Peninsula. The new proposed model has its merits and will work well in the midlands and areas where there are other stations around it.

In areas such as the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas, where the next parish to the west is America, the model will not work well. The golden hour theory will go out the window because if the ambulance has left the Iveragh Peninsula or Dingle Peninsula it will take at least an hour to get the ambulance back again and another hour back to the hospital. Given the topography and the geographical lay out of the terrain which is vast it would take time to get an ambulance to the area. The present arrangement works well with 24 hour service either on-call or on-duty. The people have a service and know that if there are instances of cardiac arrest, stroke or whatever there are people on the doorstep who will be available to help them. The people in those peninsulas have as much right to life as anybody else. We are continuously accused of killing off rural areas. I say, do not kill the people with it. An exception should be made for peninsulas because there is nowhere to go. The nearest ambulance service for a person in Waterville will be in the Killarney or Kenmare areas, almost 80 km away. There is no way an ambulance with get to the area on time in the event of a second mishap. Perhaps the Minister will have good news to the effect that the HSE is willing to look again at the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas with a view to allowing a continuation of the present arrangement.