Ambulance Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-14
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Claire Kerrane (SF), Roscommon-Galway

I want to be clear on the issue of the rapid response vehicle being parked up. This was done on Thursdays but I now understand it is done on Monday nights for 12 hours. The RRV is not being parked up because efforts to get an advanced paramedic have not been successful, whatever those efforts may be. That is not the reason because a paramedic is provided on the RRV every other day and night of the week. I believe it is being parked up as a cost-saving measure. If not, I do not know what the reason is. It is not because an advanced paramedic is not available because every other day of the week the service provides a paramedic quite happily. This should not be happening.
In relation to the efforts being made to fill the four places on the advanced paramedic roster, which is the nub of the issue here, if an action card was issued - action cards are in place for Nenagh and Ennis hospitals - it would give a guarantee to anyone who is willing to go on the roster as an advanced paramedic. The reason people are not willing to carry out that role is that they afraid they are going to be pulled onto the air ambulance or moved elsewhere, as has happened. I do not know why County Roscommon does not have the action card to protect the rapid response vehicle. If we had an action card, it would give some comfort to an advanced paramedic to then decide to make the leap and take this role. I reinforce that point in relation to the action card. There is no reason the people of County Roscommon should not have the same protection as other places that are without an accident and emergency department. Of course, we are further from an accident and emergency department. That is why the rapid response vehicle is so important.
I reiterate that lives are being put at risk in cases of cardiac arrest, heart attack, asthma attack and sepsis. This is happening in Roscommon, as I know from the coalface. I cannot and will not stand over a situation where people in my home county of Roscommon have their lives put at risk. I want this issue dealt with once and for all. I want the action card issued, the rapid response vehicle protected and the advanced paramedic and RRV provided on a 24-7 basis, as Fine Gael, the Government and the HSE promised the people of Roscommon in 2011.

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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