Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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581. To ask the Minister for Health if the necessary financial resources and personnel will be allocated for the provision of ambulance services in view of the delay in responding to an emergency call (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37814/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Ambulance Service (NAS) Capacity Review, which was published in 2016, identified that additional resources were required to enable the NAS to meet the response time targets set by HIQA. Implementation of the Capacity Review recommendations require a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. In that regard, over recent years there has been a year on year increase in resources provided to the NAS. This year additional funding of €10.7m has been made available, including €2.8m to fund new developments.

I should mention that the Capacity Review identified particular challenges in rural areas indicating that the only practical way to improve first response times in such areas was through community first responder (CFR) schemes. The NAS has appointed a Community Engagement Officer in its three operational areas, West, South and North Leinster, to promote and support CFR groups and assist with the establishment of new groups across the country.

As the incident referred to by the Deputy is a service issue, I have asked the HSE to reply to him directly.