18 September 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire today raised with the Taoiseach Simon Harris his concern regarding the mooted cuts to ambulance services in Cork and Kerry.
File photo of TD
Speaking in the Dáil today the Cork South Central TD said that while the proposed cuts had been put on ice, recent incidents had clearly highlighted the severe pressure the system is under.
“The National Ambulance Service announced over the weekend cuts to staff hours in Cork and Kerry that would have led to ambulance bases being closed one day a week.”
“In north Cork there are five ambulances and one would be lost each day and two on a Wednesday. West Cork has four and would lose one a day.”
“Fortunately, those latest cuts have been shelved, but there is no doubt the service is already under savage pressure.”
“A week and a half ago a player who suffered a serious injury was waiting 85 minutes for an ambulance at Páirc Uí Rinn. It is unfortunately far from the first instance. I can recall an instance in May very similar to that. The service is under savage pressure. There is a workforce plan or a capacity plan, but unfortunately it seems like a bit of a fiction. The proposal was to double the amount of ambulances and paramedics on the road. It does not seem like we have seen anything like that, but perhaps the Taoiseach can enlighten me. Are we making progress in that regard and how do we intend to reach that target of doubling the number or paramedics?
“In Cork, and in Kerry the system is really struggling, the Taoiseach needs to tell us how they will meet their own targets. “