Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

Today, I want to talk about defibrillators. They are a key part of any local community. However, we have a slight flaw here. If people do not recognise where they are or if they are not well advertised, it is very hard to know where to get them. I will give a wee example. Last year, I got a phone call about a woman who had a heart attack and they were looking for a defibrillator.I went to two places where I thought there were defibrillators. They were not there. They were gone. They were taken away to be fixed or whatever. We were lucky that the local football club, Naomh Ultan, had one and it worked well. That goes to the point. I am local and have local knowledge. I still thought they were there. When I was driving to get them, I thought I could see them on the wall, but they were not there.

We need to thank the first responders who turn out every time there is a call. It is great of the people who give up their time.

I have been thinking for a while about what we can do. I note there are apps one can download, such as DefibFinder. On that day, however, it was not on my phone. Many of us sat down and thought about it, and I came up with a solution. Would it not be great if DefibFinder was on Google Maps? Everybody has Google Maps on his or her phone, if it could just be put in. It would be good if we could get the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, to talk to Google to see whether this could be done. People have their iPhones with them. If there was a defibrillator on Google Maps near me, it could save somebody’s life. Time is of the essence. If something as simple as that could save a life, it would be great. Will the Deputy Leader ask the Minister to approach Google to see whether it would put on a defibrillator option for us?