Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 563: To ask the Minister for Health the number of call centres recommended for closure in the Mason report 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18421/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has undergone significant change in order to ensure quality, safety and value for money. In line with other clinical areas, this process is ongoing as clinical needs and standards develop. I believe that these developments are in the best interests of patients, and that they are a key part of the Government's work to ensure high quality emergency care.

In 2003, the Health Board Executive established a project group to oversee implementation of recommendations on the command and control function of the ambulance services within the health board structure. In September 2004, the project steering group appointed Mason Communications to undertake a technical review of the existing command and control infrastructure for ambulance services in the Republic of Ireland.

The recommendations from this report guided a reduction in the number of control centres from 22 in 1993 to 14 by 2005. Supported by my Department and by HIQA, the NAS is working to improve the management and integration of its services. This includes a reduction to two ambulance control centres nationally, with appropriate technology, a clinical lead for pre-hospital care, development and implementation of new performance indicators for pre-hospital care and development of standard national criteria in relation to non-emergency patient transport.

All current control rooms are now equipped with the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS), which allows the most appropriate deployment of pre-hospital services – in particular of advanced paramedics - and it has been used nationwide since late 2010.