Ambulance Service Dail Éireann — 2026-01-14 ============================================================ Mary Butler (FF), Waterford I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue in relation to having a rapid response vehicle on a 24-7 basis in County Roscommon. I acknowledge that the Deputy has been continuously raising this issue and advocating in relation to advanced paramedics. By way of background, as the Deputy well knows, the National Ambulance Service serves County Roscommon out of three bases located in Roscommon, Boyle and Loughglinn, which all operate on a 24-7 basis. All three bases are staffed by a highly skilled workforce of pre-hospital emergency care practitioners, including paramedics, advanced paramedics and emergency medical technicians. In addition, the National Ambulance Service operates a modern fleet of emergency ambulances, intermediate care vehicles and rapid response vehicles from these bases. Turning to the specific issue, I am aware that this topic has been raised by the Deputy, as I said, on a number of occasions. The National Ambulance Service operates two rosters at its Roscommon ambulance bases, one for the operation of a rapid response vehicle and the other for emergency ambulances. The RRV roster has four paramedic posts and there have been two vacancies on this roster. The National Ambulance Service made repeated attempts to fill these vacancies in 2025 through its national transfer process. I am informed these attempts have been unsuccessful and the National Ambulance Service will continue efforts in 2026 to fill these vacancies. This is not about trying to save a few euro or trying to save money. The NAS is actively trying to recruit into this role and will continue to do so. I am also informed by the National Ambulance Service that the rapid response vehicle in Roscommon is currently rostered on a 24-hour basis, six days per week and on a 12-hour basis on Thursday nights. I understand that the daytime shift on Thursday is covered by available emergency resources in the region and the rapid response vehicle from surrounding areas. Roscommon also benefits from the emergency aeromedical service operated by the National Ambulance Service in conjunction with the Irish Air Corps, as well as additional aeromedical support provided by the Irish Coast Guard in the region on an as available basis for its bases in Sligo and Shannon. I can also update that the HSE is progressing plans to establish a new National Ambulance Service helicopter air ambulance service this year, which will predominantly serve the west and north west. This service will be particularly beneficial in providing additional emergency coverage to patients in County Roscommon. As well as front-line urgent and emergency care, the National Ambulance Service is a vital partner in the development and expansion of a range of clinically appropriate alternative care pathways to improve patient flow and reduce pressure on emergency departments. However, I take on board the point the Deputy made in sharing the story about a young man who had an asthma attack. I thank her for sharing that and his family for allowing her to do so. It points to the fact that if that service had not been available, the outcome may not have been what we would have wanted it to be. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and I will certainly feed back to the Minister the Deputy's concerns, especially the point she made about paramedics filling in for advanced paramedics. For the record, I asked for a breakdown on NAS clinical staffing in County Roscommon. The total number of paramedics, including six advanced paramedics, is 21. There are two paramedic supervisors and six emergency medical technicians. That amounts to 29 staff currently in place. I will speak to the Minister about the 12-hour period and the issue of paramedics filling in for advanced paramedics. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-14