Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, and what the Minister for Health said earlier. I congratulate Senator Feargal Quinn on bringing the Bill before us. In the area of health we need these very low-cost, cost-effective measures. Other Senators said many of the things I wanted to say on defibrillators, fire extinguishes and the Heimlich manoeuvre. People died at dinners because we did not know how to do the manoeuvre to prevent meat from clogging their windpipes. Road safety measures reduced the number of deaths on Irish roads from 650 to approximately 160 last year. There are emergency medical technicians in ambulances. There used to be drivers only. Now they perform extremely valuable work, as the Bill indicates.

Senator Feargal Quinn has said there is a 10% reduction per minute in survival rates; therefore, we must take this action within ten minutes typically. I support his goal in respect of the survival rate.

I welcome Senator Colm Burke's support for the Bill. Senator Feargal Quinn's estimated cost to buy a defibrillator is €1,500, €100 to maintain it and €60 to €100 for training. Therefore, Senator Colm Burke's figure of €4,000 per GP might be unnecessarily large. Portugal got there first. Manitoba also got there before us.

The 40% survival rate at Dublin Airport is important. In the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport there is a sizeable budget for promoting safety on the railways of €13 million or €14 million. Could we use that budget to have defibrillators on trains? With the free travel concession, many elderly people travel on trains and there have been cases involving people who were returning from sports fixtures. If a train is trapped between two stations or out in the country, it is difficult for an ambulance to get to people; they would hardly make it in ten minutes. Perhaps the same could be done in the case of buses. I do not think there is a special bus safety budget, as there is for trains.

When the Minister of State is reviewing this issue with the Minister of State at the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport with responsibility for public and commuter transport, Deputy Alan Kelly, will they consider having defibrillators in taxis? There is an onerous new requirement that all new taxis must be wheelchair accessible. That adds substantially to the cost involved. A defibrillator would not add much to the cost and could be of value to passengers. The provision in respect of entertainment venues in section 2(v) of the Bill would have covered the Castlebar case Senator Colm Burke mentioned.

The Seanad is at its best today, doing things for society at little cost to the Exchequer. We are helping to reduce sudden cardiac death in a very cost-effective way. I am delighted the Minister will not oppose the Bill. I acknowledge Senator O'Brien's caution but the further study is done. We saw that a while ago on the damage trucks with very few axles do to roads. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy O'Dowd, indicated that the Department would have to study the issue. The research has been done and all the Department needs to do is download it as Senator Quinn did. There is no need to waste time.

In the current Estimates, the charge per bureaucrat in the Department of Health is set out at not far short of €75,000. That represents 50 defibrillators gone because some guy is conducting a study on behalf of the Minister to prove something that has already been proven before the House. The Minister of State should not bother with the study but should just go ahead and do it. I know that Deputy Ring is enthusiastic, which is why he should go ahead. He will certainly have the support of the House.