Ambulance Service

1145. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the National Ambulance Service operates under any internally defined escalation thresholds for excessive dispatch delay, delayed resource allocation, or prolonged queue times for emergency incidents; and if so, to provide details. [38863/26]

1146. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any review has been conducted regarding whether Ireland's current ambulance dispatch governance framework aligns with international best practice standards in comparable jurisdictions; and if so, to provide details. [38864/26]

1147. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any statutory instrument, policy directive, governance framework, operational standard, or national clinical guideline formally defines acceptable maximum ambulance dispatch times in Ireland. [38865/26]

1148. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department or the HSE maintains any national dataset recording ambulance incidents where dispatch allocation exceeded a specified time threshold; and if not, whether consideration has been given to establishing such reporting mechanisms. [38866/26]

1149. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the National Ambulance Service defines any ambulance response delay duration as constituting a potential patient safety incident in and of itself; and if so, the thresholds applied. [38877/26]

1150. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any ambulance delays exceeding 60 minutes resulted in incident reviews, serious incident assessments, or patient-safety escalations in 2024, 2025 or to date in 2026. [38878/26]

1151. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE Incident Management Framework contains any specific provisions relating to prolonged ambulance response delays. [38879/26]

1152. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health has assessed whether the absence of national reporting on extreme ambulance delays limits oversight of patient safety risks. [38880/26]

1153. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether HIQA has ever been requested to examine governance arrangements relating to prolonged ambulance response times. [38881/26]

1154. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether ambulance delays are incorporated into any corporate, enterprise, or clinical risk registers maintained by the HSE or National Ambulance Service. [38882/26]

1155. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department receives any routine exception reporting where NAS response performance materially deteriorates below National Service Plan KPI levels. [38883/26]

1156. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal review has examined whether prolonged ambulance delays should constitute automatically reportable adverse incidents. [38884/26]

1162. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health which specific body or office holds ultimate responsibility for approving, setting, reviewing, and enforcing national ambulance dispatch standards in Ireland. [38924/26]

1163. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Priority Dispatch Standard published by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council contains defined maximum permissible time thresholds for emergency call handling, triage, dispatch allocation, or mobilisation; and if so, to provide details. [38925/26]

1164. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the September 2025 review of the Priority Dispatch Standard identified any recommendations, deficiencies, operational concerns, governance gaps, or patient safety risks relating to ambulance dispatch practices; and if so, to provide details. [38926/26]

1165. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any formal audit, external review, internal review, incident analysis, or governance assessment of ambulance dispatch delays has been conducted by the HSE, National Ambulance Service, HIQA, PHECC, or any external body since 2020; and if so, to provide details, including dates and findings. [38927/26]

1166. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of defined national maximum ambulance dispatch-time thresholds has been recorded on any HSE, National Ambulance Service, Department of Health, or associated risk register since 2020; and if so, to provide the risk category, current status, and mitigation measures. [38928/26]

1037. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national procurement framework exists governing the engagement of private ambulance providers by HSE-funded hospitals. [36779/26]

1038. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether all private ambulance providers contracted by HSE-funded hospitals are required to meet specified national clinical governance and patient safety standards. [36780/26]

1039. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE maintains any register of private ambulance providers engaged by publicly funded hospitals. [36781/26]

1040. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any assessment has been carried out regarding the impact of reliance on private ambulance services on continuity of care, patient safety, or response times. [36782/26]

1041. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of additional National Ambulance Service intermediate care staff and vehicles projected to be required nationally to eliminate reliance on private ambulance providers. [36783/26]

1042. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any review has been undertaken into regional variation in the use of private ambulance providers by hospitals or hospital groups. [36784/26]

1043. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any private ambulance providers currently engaged by HSE-funded hospitals also provide services under other HSE contracts or public procurement arrangements. [36785/26]

1044. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national policy exists governing when hospitals should utilise private ambulance providers instead of National Ambulance Service resources. [36786/26]