Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We were all horrified at the death of that young man so close to this building. While this sort of thing is happening all the time, the fact that it happened so close to this building has jolted us. I congratulate Senator Craughwell on the manner in which he appealed to the Leader to have a debate on the matter. Based on what the Leader said, the Senator went to him yesterday and gave him time, rather than raising it today and calling for a Minister to appear today. I do not support Senator MacSharry's view on this occasion; I support Senator Craughwell's. I thank the Leader for responding as well as he did having been given notice. It is something I have learnt. It is great to have a newcomer come in and show us how to do things. Giving notice has given the Leader the opportunity to do something about it.

Senator Kelly spoke about the report on the ambulance service. Yesterday morning, the same organisation, HIQA, issued a report on defibrillators. Senators will remember we had a very good debate on defibrillators in which the Minister said he wanted to give some thought to it. The Bill we discussed in the House would require all premises with more than 100 people going through each day to have a defibrillator. HIQA's health technology assessment report accepts most of what has been proposed. However, it claims it is too expensive to do it in every building. I accept that is so and it may have to find a way.

When considering the cost of defibrillators, we must remember they are life saving. We are talking about homeless people dying on the streets. People who need defibrillators are also dying if we do not manage to get more of them in. The proposal is that businesses should get grants from the Government to support not just buying a defibrillator, which costs about €1,000, but also training people to use it. I believe that is something that could be done. There are things the Government could do to make it less expensive. Why do we pay VAT on defibrillators? Why do we pay VAT on children's car seats? There are some things that do not make sense. I can understand the Government claiming that it not in its hands but in the hands of the European Union. Let us ensure we argue the case that defibrillators should be free of VAT. Defibrillators should qualify for a grant to encourage considerably more businesses to install them.