Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. While the ambulance is based in Belmullet, if the ambulance is not available locally we have to get an ambulance down from Castlebar or Ballina.

Returning to north County Louth, I would like the Minister of State to consider expanding the co-operation with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Places such as Omeath are only ten minutes away from Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and yet ambulances are being dispatched from Drogheda, leading to a response time of an hour and 20 minutes, when it could be a ten- or 20-minute response time from across the Border.