Ambulance Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04