Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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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.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.

The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, PHECC, is the independent statutory agency with responsibility for standards, education and training in the field of pre-hospital emergency care. The council is the regulator for emergency medical services and its role is to protect the public. Automated external defibrillators can be placed in cabinets which are widely available for interior and exterior deployment and use. The PHECC has adopted the international liaison committee on resuscitation automated external defibrillator signage. This is defibrillator signage with a specified standard attached to it. The sign must be a green square without markers. The safety sign requires a cross in the right hand corner as part of the requirements of the standard and a heart and flash are standard symbols that must make up the sign. The standard allows text to be provided in a separate box to improve comprehension.

I advise the Senator that one of the means to help to improve health outcomes in this area is through the expansion of the national first response network. Community first responder groups comprise this national network. They are people from local communities who are trained in the provision of basic life support and the use of defibrillators who attend a potentially life-threatening emergency in their area. They are then able to provide for an early intervention in situations where a person has a heart attack or cardiac arrest by, among other things, resuscitation and defibrillation.Cardiac First Responders Ireland which was launched in 2015 is the national umbrella organisation for community first responder groups. It works with the National Ambulance Service, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council and the centre for emergency medical science in University College Dublin. There are 141 community first responder groups tasked by the National Ambulance Service. If an emergency 999 or 112 call for cardiac arrest, choking, chest pain or breathing difficulties is made to the National Ambulance Service in an area where a community first responder group is established, the on-duty community first responder receives a text message from the National Ambulance Service at the same time as an ambulance is despatched with location and call details. The community first responder goes straight to the scene and administers initial care, including defibrillation, if required, until the National Ambulance Service emergency resources arrive.

The National Ambulance Service supports the establishment of new cardiac first responder groups around the country and encourages all communities to consider the establishment of such a scheme in their areas. I am familiar with the excellent work such groups do in my local area. I welcome the work of Cardiac First Responders Ireland, as part of which initiative valuable life-saving assistance and help are provided. This is especially important in non-urban areas where an immediate intervention may be required pending the arrival of an ambulance.

On the suggestion made by some local authorities on the use of existing telephone boxes, I will be pleased to convey the Senator's message in this regard to the relevant Minister.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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Who is the relevant Minister?

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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As the matter is one for local authorities, the relevant Minister is the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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While I am very pleased that the Minister of State has provided more detail about Cardiac First Responders Ireland, her response does not address the question I asked. I appreciate her comments on the issue of emergencies, but I asked about specific structures or the installation of identifiable boxes in towns and villages. It is heartening - the Minister of State should pardon the unintentional pun - to hear how great the emergency services are, which I do not doubt for one moment. I will contact the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on the role of local authorities. I hope my proposal will secure the backing of the Department of Health. While the Minister of State's reply does not address the question I asked, I appreciate the information she has provided all the same.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Clear standards are in place and everyone must sign up to them. Anyone who knows what a defibrillator looks like - Senators will have seen them in various locations - is aware that the standards are outlined clearly. Given that no reference had been made to Eir or local authorities before my arrival in the House, the information provided by the Senator is new to me. I have given an undertaking that I will convey the Senator's suggestion to the Minister. It would be helpful if she were to liaise with him.