Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Health the way he will improve the ambulance service, especially in rural Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36535/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The National Ambulance Service (NAS) is continuing to modernise and reconfigure its services to ensure emergency pre-hospital care is delivered in an appropriate and timely manner. A significant reform programme is underway, which will provide a clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by improved technology. The National Service Plan 2014 provided additional funding of €3.6 million and 43 staff for this process and the NAS has a Performance Improvement Plan in place, focussing on areas such as:

- processes for call taking, allocation and dispatch;

- crew mobilisation times;

-ED turnaround times;

- engagement with and development of community first responder schemes.

Other ongoing performance improvement projects include:

- the single national control and dispatch system, due to be completed in 2015;

- continuing development of the Intermediate Care Service, for routine and non-emergency transfers, allowing emergency vehicles to focus on responding to emergencies;

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

The Deputy will be aware that three separate reviews of ambulance services are underway. HIQA is examining the governance arrangements for pre-hospital emergency services; the HSE and Dublin City Council have commissioned a joint review of Dublin ambulance services to determine the best and most cost-effective model of ambulance services for the city; and the UK Association of Ambulance Chief Executives is undertaking a comprehensive capacity review of the NAS, to determine what level of resourcing, in terms of staff, vehicles, skills and distribution, is required to deliver a safe and effective service, now and into the future.

I am confident that these reviews will inform the development of a modern, clinically driven system, properly resourced, for appropriate and timely provision of services to the benefit of patients.