Dublin ambulance service integration
Deputy Haughey urged urgent implementation of the 2015 expert panel report on pre-hospital emergency care and a fully integrated Dublin ambulance service. The Tánaiste said the recommendations would be considered by the relevant Ministers and that funding remained under discussion.
I thank the Tánaiste. The expert panel on pre-hospital emergency care services Dublin published its report in 2015. Does the Tánaiste agree that the findings of the expert panel should be implemented as a matter of urgency, given that the report provides a mechanism to address the operational inefficiencies and the issue of a fully integrated ambulance service in Dublin? Will the two relevant Ministers commence immediately, by way of the new governance arrangements set out by the expert panel, a process to eliminate the shortfall in the Dublin Fire Brigade available capacity to meet demand in order that the use of fire appliances to respond to ambulance calls is reserved for calls that are clinically appropriate? Can the Department and Dublin City Council provide funding directly for the operation of the ambulance service provided by the Dublin Fire Brigade and can the funding be increased to reflect the costs of the service?
As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Nobody in the HSE has any capacity to take over the ambulance service currently administered by the Dublin Fire Brigade.
Will the Government and the two relevant Ministers intervene in respect of this matter, sort it out and leave Dublin Fire Brigade to continue to do what it has done for the past 100 years?
Comment on this
The first key point I will make to the Deputy is that we are investing more in the National Ambulance Service. I quite agree with Deputy Haughey that we do not want to lose any of the excellence and experience that has been built up over the years. We have a series of recommendations that will be discussed and considered by both Ministers. The funding considerations will form part of those discussions. The issue is clearly being taken very seriously by both of the Ministers and their Departments. Each of them has responsibilities in respect of it and funding is continuing. There will be no reduction in front-line ambulance services. That is critical given the demands on our hospitals. Yesterday, it was made clear in the House that engagement will take place when the recommendations come to the Ministers.