I did not get an opportunity yesterday to contribute to the debate on the National Ambulance Service. I want to take this opportunity to address the urgent need for extra ambulances and ambulance staff in the west Cork area. The Taoiseach knows well the unique geography of west Cork and that it can take anything up to three hours to travel from Cork University Hospital to Castletownbere. It is unique and it needs extra ambulances and extra ambulance staff. There is a €200 million allocation in the budget for ambulances in 2022. We need to see this translated into extra ambulances and extra ambulance staff. The ambulance staff themselves are concerned about the lack of provision. This should include extra support for the Irish Community Air Ambulance service. This is a fantastic service, which has faster response times, faster transport of patients from the incident to the hospital and better outcomes. It needs to be supported and be part of the solution for an area such as west Cork.

I accept the points the Deputy has made on the need for widespread coverage of the National Ambulance Service. Other Deputies have raised this in the House. The facts of the matter are, as the Deputy has said, overall investment is now €200 million. This is up from €170 million in 2019. Approximately 2,000 people are employed in the National Ambulance Service, which is up 16% in the past five years. That said, issues have been raised with regard to geographic cover. HIQA and others have analysed this. People like the model we have. Experts believe the model we have gives the optimal outcomes. That said, the feedback from the regions is that there are many challenges with the model in terms of wait times, particularly in less acute cases and other cases people have raised in the House. There is a need to review this and we will engage with the Minister.