Written answers
Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Department of Health
Ambulance Service
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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660. To ask the Minister for Health if the visit by representatives of the National Ambulance Service to Israel was officially sanctioned; if so, by whom and for what reason; the cost associated with the visit; if he considers such a visit to be appropriate, given the ongoing breaches of international law by Israel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25666/23]
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Following the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine WADEM Conference in 2022, the NAS was invited to visit Magen David Adom (MDA) in Israel to learn from the joint work underway between MDA and the Jordanian Red Crescent.
The National Ambulance Service consulted with my Department and The Department of Foreign Affairs in advance of this visit. Ireland’s bilateral relations with Israel encompass cooperation and exchanges across a wide range of sectors and the visit of the National Ambulance Service to their counterparts was important in this context. All such official cooperation strictly respects the delineation between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
With regard to the further detail requested by the Deputy, as these operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly as soon as possible.
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