Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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173. To ask the Minister for Health the body which assesses the safety and standards of private ambulances, the equipment and resources within same and the staff operating them; the frequency with which safety and standard checks are carried out; the way in which this compares to public ambulances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31881/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ambulance vehicles are required, by law, to have an annual vehicle safety check, the Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test. This is a function of the Road Safety Authority.

Private ambulance companies, approved by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), are required to sign a statutory declaration annually, indicating that they have the necessary equipment and medications available for their practitioners. The statutory declaration also includes the requirement to maintain currency for PHECC registered practitioners. This requirement also applies to the National Ambulance Service.

I am advised that PHECC has carried out inspections on all approved private ambulance organisations; such inspections include an examination of the equipment and resources available. The Deputy may also wish to note that in order to provide an evidenced based inspection process, PHECC has developed the Governance Validation Framework (GVF) which is expected to be approved by Council shortly. The GVF will involve an annual self-assessment and a tri-annual site visit by PHECC for each organisation.