Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. We in south Kerry are facing death by geography and death by PowerPoint. Hidden within the PowerPoint presentation delivered to us by the national ambulance service was the information that the second emergency ambulance in Killarney town would be lost, which simply beggars belief. People in rural areas will now be waiting one to two hours for a response, including in cases of heart attack and stroke. Patients could well end up requiring weeks of hospital treatment rather than days, because of delays in administering emergency care.

The national ambulance service and Health Service Executive management have made their decision and it is the people of Killarney who are at a loss. Notwithstanding the promises of an improved service, I fear there will be fatal consequences for people in Kerry.