Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an gCeannaire freisin as ucht a phósta le linn na Nollag. Guím gach rath air féin agus ar a pháirtí. Tá súil agam go mbeadh blianta fada sona acu. I wish the Leader all the best on his nuptials. I hope he and his partner have long and happy years together. It is a wonderful occasion. Well done.

I also want to refer to a very serious issue occurrence in Carraroe a week ago last Friday when a two year old toddler began choking. An ambulance was called and the family were told it was on its way. An uncle of the child came to the house and saw that the child was very distressed. Due to previous situations that had happened in the area, he decided that they should bundle the child into the car and get to the hospital as quickly as possible. They did that. They kept in contact with the ambulance service. The ambulance was to meet themen route. That did not happen. They took the initiative and rang a garda, a friend of the family, who sent a colleague of his who was on duty to meet them at the halfway point on the road to Galway city.They met at Spiddal, the child was brought in the Garda car and the ambulance met with them outside the city in Rahoon, on the way to the hospital. The child was lost twice on the way to the hospital; he had to be resuscitated twice. It was a very serious scenario and it raises some serious issues for the family. The first is around the protocols for call-outs. As there is an ambulance station in Carraroe, which is within five minutes of the family's house, why was no ambulance crew available for the child? Why did it take 50 minutes for an ambulance to get only as far as Rahoon, which is on the outskirts of the city, when it had been called? It would have taken another 50 minutes to get to Carraroe had the family not taken the initiative themselves.

There is also a fire brigade station in the area. There are two emergency medical technicians on that crew and people who are trained in emergency first response. If an ambulance is going to take such a long time, why is there no protocol to call these services to the scene to intervene as quickly as possible? This service would also have a blue light vehicle that could have been used in that emergency scenario to bring the child to hospital.

We certainly need a very serious discussion around the provision of ambulance services in rural areas. We have a vocal campaign in north Connemara, in the Leenane area, where there is concern over the lack of cover by ambulance services. We are also concerned that ambulances are possibly being held up outside the accident and emergency department at University Hospital Galway. We often see a number of ambulances waiting - sometimes six, seven or eight - and it is my understanding that an ambulance cannot be released until the patient is on the trolley and in the hospital system. The ambulances are therefore held up.

Why was there such an inordinate delay in getting an ambulance to this family? They were extremely distressed. Thankfully there was a positive outcome; the child had to undergo a minor procedure and has recovered but it was a very touch and go situation. We want to avoid any more of those happening in the future but we really need to address the issues. I am aware that the Minister, Deputy Harris, has been spoken to about the issue in Galway and the north Connemara situation. Promises have been made and it has been put back to the National Ambulance Service, whose response to this situation was that it was not an absolute emergency. An infant potentially choking in the back of the car certainly is a very serious situation and I cannot understand why it is not being dealt with. I would like to see this investigated fully. Perhaps the Minister could be asked to come to the House for a debate around those services.