Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I express my sympathy to the family of my friend and colleague, Nicky McFadden, who bravely fought the horrendous illness from which she suffered. She was a beautiful person. We will have an opportunity to pay tribute to her on another day. May her gentle soul rest in peace. I join with others who have suggested that a great way to pay tribute to her would be to better resource research on this horrendous disease.

The issue of ambulance response times is serious. Data have come to light recently which show that in the south-east region, only 45% of 999 calls made by patients in cardiac or respiratory arrest situations were responded to within the maximum recommended time of 19 minutes. The Health Information and Quality Authority recommends that a first responder should be on the scene of a life-threatening incident within seven minutes and 59 seconds and 18 minutes and 59 seconds. The HSE's target is 85%. Clearly, targets are not being met. I ask the Leader for a debate on the issue at the earliest possible juncture.