Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also support my Fianna Fáil colleagues. On Second Stage, the then Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, pointed out that the Bill allows for the removal of the AED during an identifiable medical emergency that has been notified to the emergency services. This would mean that if somebody throws a lifebuoy to a person without notifying the incident or some other person notifying the incident to the emergency services, he or she would be guilty of a crime. The people who are going out to save lives are going out to save lives and obviously they want use of those AEDs. The last thing they are probably thinking is, "Oh gosh, I have to ring the emergency services". We want to protect those people as well.

The Bill just protects the AEDs we have. There is no doubt that we need more of them. Community-funded initiatives are great but we should look at making it mandatory for large supermarkets and shopping centres to have or more of these installed. I also commend the work of cardiac first responders throughout this country. They do great work and are on duty 24-7 so I commend them for the great work they do in saving lives.