Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last Monday in Dublin it may have come to the Leader's attention that hundreds of members of the Dublin Fire Brigade and their supporters marched on City Hall in support of the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service. All of us should acknowledge the fantastic work that service does in complementing the work of the HSE ambulance crews in the city and county of Dublin. It is the longest-standing ambulance service in the country. The people of Dublin and those who work in the aforementioned service are greatly concerned about the review of the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service commissioned by Dublin City Council and the HSE. We understood after the protest on Monday that the HSE intended to suspend the review and I would have welcomed such a suspension because the terms of reference of that review indicated that the main aim was to subsume the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service into the HSE. I believe, as does my party, that this would be a retrograde step. The hundreds of people who marched in Dublin on Monday, along with the thousands of supporters who have signed petitions, also believe that it would be a retrograde step. I am most disappointed to learn through a statement from the HSE Dublin north east that the review has not been suspended and that the HSE and Dublin City Council intend to proceed with it once they have completed their national capacity review of the ambulance services across the city and county.

What is the Government's position on the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service in Dublin? Does the Government support that service? Why is it that neither the Minister for Health - who is Dublin based and should know the service well - nor any of the Ministers of State at his Department has made any statement on this or on the current controversy relating to the ambulance service? Why are they remaining silent? Does the Government support the retention of the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service in the city and county of Dublin? The people who work in that service deserve to know the answer to that question. With that in mind, I am tabling an amendment to the Order of Business this morning to call on the Minister for Health or a Minister of State at his Department to come to this House for one hour to make a statement and to take questions on whether the Government supports the retention of the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service in the city and county of Dublin.