John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased this morning that it is the Minister State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is in the House to take this matter, because I have found in the past that not only is she aware of what is going on but she has a great knowledge of and insight into the actual situation. Equally important, I have found her to be a listening Minister of State who persists and perseveres, sometimes against the head, as she did in the case of community nursing homes - I am keen to put that on the record. The nursing homes in Abbeyleix and Shaen in Portlaoise were earmarked for closure, but, thanks to the intervention of the Minister State, Deputy Lynch, she was able to secure the funding to invest in these important community nursing homes. This ensures they were upgraded and brought up the HIQA standard and rules. She saved the day for the elderly and the communities of Laois. I wish to acknowledge that on the record today.

Today, I have a bleak warning for the Minister of State.The National Ambulance Service, NAS, is overstretched, under-resourced and understaffed to the point of lives being put at risk. I make no bones about saying that. It is a difficult job at the best of times and a stressful one on a good day. It is intense work. The service is often the lifeline between the community and life-saving medical intervention at a hospital, including surgery.

The service cannot cope with the demands being placed on it. I do not raise this matter lightly and I have witnessed what is happening at first hand. How is it possible that a hospital as large as the one in Portlaoise, which serves a large catchment area that includes south Kildare, north Tipperary and the entire midlands, is often left without any ambulance cover whatsoever? That is the reality. In the past fortnight, ambulances from Portlaoise were dispatched to places as far away as Enniscorthy to pick up the slack resulting from a lack of ambulances covering Kilkenny, Carlow and Waterford. How can this be possible? Ambulances from Portlaoise have been dispatched to Carrick-on-Suir in south Tipperary, leaving the midlands without ambulance cover for hours on end. This is not acceptable or sustainable.

Ambulance drivers and paramedics are at their wits' end and are being stretched beyond belief. I witnessed this before Christmas at a commemoration of UN veterans in Portlaoise. A man collapsed at the event within a mile of Portlaoise hospital but there was still no ambulance after 45 minutes because the vehicles had been dispatched to elsewhere. However, paramedics who had been attending the commemoration - it was an Army and Air Corps event - had the skills and training necessary to resuscitate and save him. He had to be brought to hospital in a car after they deemed him fit to be moved. No ambulance was available. I am not making up stories or crying wolf. The ambulance service cannot operate at its current staffing and resourcing levels.

This issue is feeding into doubts about the future of and safety and staffing levels at Portlaoise hospital. There are question marks over the 24-7 accident and emergency unit. In an unprecedented move this week, Laois general practitioners, GPs, raised questions about why the HSE had not come forward with a plan to commit to the hospital's future status, including a 24-7 accident and emergency service of which the ambulance service would be a core part. That announcement was supposed to be made in September but the issue has been fudged and long-fingered until after the election. This is not acceptable and I will not countenance any situation in which the ambulance service in Portlaoise is diminished or under-resourced further or where there is any question of a threat of undermining the hospital's status, its 24-7 accident and emergency service and the proper resourcing and staffing of same.