2026-03-04

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this Topical Issue. I raise the very important matter of ambulance service provision in the wider east Cork area. East Cork is a huge area with an ever-increasing population but, unfortunately, the current ambulance service appears inadequate to meet the demands placed on it. I have received numerous reports of long waits for ambulances and medical attention in the aftermath of medical emergencies. This has prompted me to raise the matter as a Topical Issue. I have the utmost respect for the ambulance service and its crews. I recognise the vital work the service does, under enormous pressure, to protect our communities. However, it needs help in providing such an important service to the best of its ability and this assistance should be forthcoming from Government. East Cork spans a wide geographical area and this alone ensures that ambulance crews are constantly covering a very populated and busy part of County Cork. This area will only get busier and ambulance service provision will be spread even thinner with the number of planned housing developments and road infrastructure upgrades proposed for the near future. With delays in the provision of vital life-saving services being experienced by so many in east Cork, there is scope to greatly improve the service as it stands and possibly increase it further into the future. As I am sure the Minister of State would agree, any loss of life is regrettable. I very much appreciate that preventing loss of life is the primary objective of the ambulance service but, despite best efforts, there are, unfortunately, instances where delays in providing immediate medical care can contribute greatly to the passing of a person. With that in mind, I raise the recent case of a family in east Cork where a family member unfortunately passed away with the delay in providing medical attention a major contributing factor in his death. This has profoundly affected the family, which is questioning the HSE about the procedures that were followed in this case. The family argument is that it should not happen to any other family. While this case is an individual one, the family is asking that the overall service in east Cork be greatly improved. With that in mind, can the Minister of State give a breakdown of ambulance service provision in east Cork and the number of times east Cork was left without an ambulance service in each year from 2021 to 2025? Has there been a review of the ambulance service in east Cork recently or is any review is planned? What measures are the Department of Health and the HSE taking to ensure service provision is increased in the area going forward?

On behalf of the Minister, I thank Deputy McCarthy for the opportunity to update the house on ambulance service provision in east Cork. I thank him for the manner in which he raised it and am sorry to hear about the person who passed away. As the Deputy will be aware, the National Ambulance Service, NAS, serves east Cork on a 24-7 basis through a highly skilled workforce of paramedics, advanced paramedics and emergency medical technicians; a fleet of modern emergency ambulances, intermediate care vehicles and rapid response vehicles; and 12 ambulances bases covering the entire county of Cork. The region is also served by several NAS alternative care pathways designed to treat patients at the most appropriate level of clinical need while avoiding unnecessary patient conveyances to busy hospital emergency departments where it is not clinically necessary. These pathways include the Pathfinder "See and Treat" service located in Cork, the NAS National Emergency Operations Centre Clinical Hub "Hear and Treat" service, the community paramedic service, and NAS intermediate care services. Further emergency response capacity in the region is provided by the Government-funded Southwest Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, HEMS, operating out of Rathcoole in County Cork. Additional HEMS support is provided in the region by the Irish Coast Guard, RCG, search and rescue service from its bases in Waterford and Shannon on an "as available" basis. As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has continuously invested in NAS with significant increases in investment in recent years. Government investment in 2026 will support HSE plans to further increase capacity in NAS with 263 new posts representing an investment of €20 million. This will help to improve emergency ambulance response performance, provide for additional intermediate care service capacity and further development and expand NAS alternative care pathways, including community paramedic services right across the county. Regarding the south west, including east Cork, additional NAS resources for 2026 will include additional emergency vehicles in Cork city and Killarney as well as a further intermediate care vehicle in Bantry. Further investment in 2026 will also include an additional community paramedic post to the region to provide care for lower acuity older patients. The Deputy will be aware that NAS has also established a new NAS tertiary education training facility in Cork to further support paramedic education and training. I am delighted to learn that the first intake of student paramedics took place in January of this year, which has increased overall training capacity by 20%. That is very welcome. I know it will take a while for them to come through. I should also add that investment in 2026 will also see significant increases in NAS capital funding, including €34 million for renewal and expansion of the fleet of emergency ambulances and other response vehicles. In addition, the provision of a replacement ambulance station for Midleton is at the design feasibility stage. I know this is very important to the Deputy and other Government colleagues in that area. Overall investment in recent years has also seen total NAS staffing rise to 2,470 at the end of December 2025, which is a rise of 28%. Notwithstanding that, I appreciate the issue raised by the Deputy concerning east Cork, which is a vast area bordering my own county of Waterford. There are a lot of people on the border area there between Dungarvan west and into Youghal. I suggest the Deputy put some of the specific questions he asked regarding the number of call outs and times into a parliamentary question.

I thank the Minister of State for her very detailed response. I acknowledge the investment in the ambulance service in the area. While I appreciate the work the Department of Health and HSE are doing to ensure increased service provision, I remain adamant that east Cork requires further attention. With this in mind, can the Minister of State outline where exactly ambulance services in east Cork are currently based? I welcome the fact a centre will be established in east Cork with Midleton as a possible destination. I welcome the Minister of State's response with regard to that. I understand the expansion of such a centre is being actively progressed by the HSE and that the project is currently at the site selection phase. Have there been any further developments on identifying a suitable site? For the reasons I outlined previously, the development of such a facility would be an enormous boost to the wider east Cork area. It would also provide much-needed comfort to the families of those who may require urgent medical intervention at short notice. With this in mind, I ask the Minister to continue to liaise with the HSE on possible measures that could be introduced locally, including the establishment of a landing centre. Finally, I ask that we be updated regarding any other measures. I reiterate my support for the ambulance service, the work it does and all the front-line workers.

I join with the Deputy in extending my thanks and that of the Department of Health to the staff of the NAS for their commitment and dedication to patient care in east Cork and across the whole country. I was just checking as the Deputy was speaking. In 2025, the following additional resources were added to the south-west region. Twelve paramedics and 12 emergency medical technicians were deployed to the south-west region. Seventeen staff were allocated to the region in 2025 under agency conversion to the following locations: Cork city, four; north Cork, two; west Cork, one; east Cork, one; and Kerry, nine. The new college campus in Cork will have its first intake of student paramedics starting in January 2026. The college will initially be based at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, pending development of the new site that we spoke about in Midleton. I know the Deputy is genuinely concerned about that particular region and I will speak to the Minister later today and tell her the Deputy raised the matter in relation to east Cork in the Dáil today. It is a vast area, covering all the way from the Waterford boundary, all the way up to the Limerick boundary and right across Cork but the additional capacity that has been added overall should help.