Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State if it would be possible to provide defibrillators in telephone box style or similar structures in all towns and villages which would be easy to identify and access in an emergency. The life of the teenager Tom Geaney was saved in Killarney through the use of a defibrillator. He recently opened such a structure in Killarney, the first of its kind in County Kerry, for which a reconstructed telephone box was used. Unfortunately, there are very few telephone boxes left in the country. Historically, the telephone box played a huge part in Irish communities, in helping to keep families together by allowing them to communicate with one another. The remaining telephone boxes could be used to house life-saving devices and help the public to recognise and remember the location of defibrillators. It has been proved that use of a defibrillator significantly improves the chances of survival of someone who has an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Earlier this month the Health Products Regulatory Authority highlighted the fact that approximately 750 automated external defibrillators required urgent safety and maintenance updates. I have carried out some work on this issue in recent weeks and organised a meeting with Mr. Paul Bradley, director of corporate affairs with Eir, the company which owns most of the remaining telephone boxes in the country. It is my understanding Eir has been approached by a number of local authorities with a view to converting the remaining telephone boxes into defibrillators stations. However, Eir has a concern about liability issues. Liability must be taken over because, as a telecommunications provider, Eir does not want to have responsibility for the maintenance of defibrillators. I am sure this issue can be resolved. I would be grateful if the Department took responsibility and liability for the remaining telephone boxes and converted them into defibrillator stations. In that way, people would be able to access them out of hours. I am sure there is technology available that would facilitate access to the nearest defibrillator station when people called the emergency services. This is a great idea and I do not think there would be an enormous cost involved in reconstructing telephone boxes or providing similar structures which would be easily identifiable as defibrillator stations. There are defibrillators available in many GAA clubs and other locations, but they should also be available in the centre of towns and villages. The recent opening of the first defibrillator station in a reconstructed telephone box in Killarney by Tom Geaney illustrates the usefulness of such structures in emergencies.