Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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238. To ask the Minister for Health when the reconfiguration of the ambulance service will be complete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31729/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The National Ambulance Service is continuing to modernise and reconfigure its services, to ensure that emergency pre-hospital care is delivered in an appropriate and timely manner. A significant reform programme is currently underway which will provide a clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by improved technology. In that regard, additional funding of €3.6 million and 43 staff have been provided in the National Service Plan 2014. Ongoing performance improvement projects include;

- completion of the single national control system, due in 2015;

- the introduction of the Intermediate Care Service, for routine and non-emergency transfers, allowing emergency vehicles to focus on emergency situations;

- the move to on-duty rostering and the development of a national rostering system.

Work is ongoing on all of these projects. For details of time frames of each element of the programme, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the HSE direct reply to him.