Questions

375. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that the current National Ambulance Service KPI framework does not measure or report life threatening emergency response delays exceeding 60 minutes; and if so, whether she will direct that this data be formally collected, audited, and published on a routine basis. [8861/26]

376. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any Department of Health policy, guidance, or risk management framework addresses patient harm arising from prolonged ambulance response times beyond existing KPI thresholds; and if not, whether she intends to commission such a framework. [8862/26]

377. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken, commissioned, or received any clinical risk assessment, patient safety review, or adverse incident analysis relating to emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes during the period 2023 to date; and if not, the reasons for same. [8863/26]

378. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that failure to measure extreme emergency response delays limits the State’s ability to identify, assess, and mitigate patient safety risks; and whether she will instruct the Health Service Executive to amend its performance governance arrangements accordingly. [8864/26]

380. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the oversight mechanisms which exist within her Department to ensure that National Ambulance Service performance metrics adequately capture risks associated with prolonged emergency response times; and whether those mechanisms have been reviewed in light of rising demand and persistent emergency department congestion. [8876/26]

1179. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she has directed, or will direct, the National Ambulance Service to collect and publish monthly data on the number of emergency calls classified as clinical status 1 purple and red where the response time exceeds 60 minutes; if not, the reasons this data is not currently required as part of national performance oversight; and the date from which such repo…

1180. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the rationale for excluding response times exceeding 60 minutes for clinical status 1 purple and red emergency calls from the key performance indicators of the National Ambulance Service; when this policy decision was taken; and whether she considers the exclusion of extreme delays to be consistent with patient safety and international best practice in emergency …

1181. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when she was first made aware that the National Ambulance Service does not collate or report data on life-threatening emergency calls where response times exceed 60 minutes; whether this issue has been raised with her Department by the HSE or the NAS; and what actions, if any, she has taken since becoming aware of this gap in oversight. [8613/26]

1182. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what formal escalation, intervention, or corrective measures are triggered when national or regional response time targets for clinical status 1 purple and red emergency calls are not met by the National Ambulance Service; whether any such measures were triggered during 2025; and if not, how target compliance is enforced in practice. [8614/26]

1183. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether median response times for clinical status 1 purple and red emergency calls are collected by the National Ambulance Service; if so, to provide the median response times for each of the past 12 months by HSE region; and if not, the reasons median data is not used alongside averages in assessing emergency response performance. [8615/26]

1184. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the assessment her Department has undertaken of the persistent variation in emergency ambulance response performance between HSE regions for clinical status 1 purple and red calls; whether staffing levels, fleet availability, or geographic coverage have been identified as contributory factors; and the national actions which are being taken to address regional ine…

2324. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of emergency calls classified as purple and red in each of the past 12 months where the National Ambulance Service response time exceeded 60 minutes, broken down by month and by community healthcare organisation area. [75137/25]

2325. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average and median response times for purple and red emergency calls in each of the past 12 months; and the percentage of such calls meeting the national response time targets set by the Health Service Executive. [75138/25]

2326. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the primary factors identified by her Department and the Health Service Executive as contributing to emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes, including staffing levels, vehicle availability, hospital handover delays, and rostering constraints. [75139/25]

2327. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of hours ambulances were unavailable for emergency, in each of the past 12 months due to hospital handover delays; and the measures in place to reduce ambulance turnaround times at emergency departments. [75140/25]

2328. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the additional staffing, vehicles, and funding allocated to the National Ambulance Service in 2024 and 2025 to address prolonged emergency response times; and the impact of these measures on response performance to date. [75141/25]

2329. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted or commissioned any risk assessment on patient harm associated with emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes; and if so, to provide the findings. [75142/25]