Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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641. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the Killarney cardiac response unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1089/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Killarney Cardiac Response Unit is part of a growing network of Community First Responder (CFR) schemes. The establishment of this network has been a very welcome development in recent years. The HIQA report on our pre-hospital emergency care services, which was published last year, recognised the challenges faced by our ambulance service in responding to emergencies in rural communities. The report recommended the expansion of the CFR scheme and additional funding was provided for this in 2015 and 2016. There are 131 CFR schemes active around the country, with 20 of these becoming active since January 2015. I look forward to further expansion of the scheme in 2016.

The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council is the independent statutory agency with responsibility for standards, education and training in the field of pre-hospital emergency care. Issues around the availability and use of Automated External Defibrillator units are currently under consideration by the Council.