James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Minister for Health if he will discuss the HSE capital plan project to develop a new ambulance training college in a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39428/24]

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Once again, I take the opportunity to raise a constituency matter with the Minister. It relates to Youghal, County Cork, my home town and new capital developments there. I am really delighted with the progress that has been made under the HSE capital development plan. I worked very hard with the Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on delivering a new community nursing unit and a new primary care centre in the town. However, is there is an opportunity to deliver a new ambulance training college in Youghal at St. Raphael's or another location in the town. The Minister knows this project is important to me, the town and the people I represent. Youghal desperately needs government investment. The training facility is a key one that could bring employment and it is much needed in a community that both wants it and desperately needs it.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his powerful and relentless advocacy of healthcare services for the people in his constituency, including Youghal. He has raised the ambulance training college with me probably every week over the past few years. I am delighted to be able to confirm in the Dáil today that the St. Raphael's site in Youghal is the preferred location for the permanent ambulance training college. That will be very welcome news to the people in Youghal. The facility will be wonderful for our National Ambulance Service and Youghal.

The service trains the majority of its paramedic workforce through its own college, the National Ambulance Service College. The BSc paramedic studies programme is a three-year programme delivered through the college, and the college runs it in conjunction with its academic partner, UCC. The BSc programme is taught out of three NAS college campuses, located in Tallaght, Ballinasloe and Tullamore. The NAS currently has capacity to teach around 200 student paramedics every year. Last year saw 196 students accepted into the programme, which was fantastic.

The ambulance service has plans to establish a fourth campus, which is the one the Deputy and I have spoken about many times. It is to be located in Cork and is to increase recruitment capacity into our National Ambulance Service. A project to develop the fourth training campus in Cork is included in the 2024 HSE capital plan. I allocated funding for it this year to be progressed under the plan. New funding announced as part of budget 2025 will see a very significant additional allocation to the National Ambulance Service, which I might come back to in a later response.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome that. I am delighted there has been progress since we last spoke about this matter. I met the Minister in his office with departmental officials about this, and it is something we have been working on together. Youghal, as a town, has taken a hammering historically. There were 4,000 people directly employed in traditional industries there and Kodak flash cameras were made there. The town has really been a victim of time, poor government investment and a lack of strategic thinking, and its people feel abandoned. As their representative, I do not blame them for feeling that. This is why decisions like that just discussed in the Chamber matter. They matter to people in Youghal and certainly matter to me as their representative because they are about having government-led investment into the community. This goes beyond healthcare; this is about the State helping a disadvantaged community, a disadvantaged area. The proposed facility, above all else, would be greatly welcomed in east Cork and, indeed, on the other side of the River Blackwater in the area of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in County Waterford. It would be very beneficial to the region. Could the Minister give me an insight? Could he visit the location and see the facility at St. Raphael's for himself to try to drive this on as quickly as possible?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I would be delighted to join the Deputy in Youghal and very happy to look at the site. The ambulance service is working with HSE estates to identify an interim solution for 2025 because we want this up and running. That is good news because it means the HSE can begin hiring the staff. We have a preferred site, St. Raphael's, and there is a final process and work that goes on; however, critically, the ambulance service wants to move with an interim solution right away.

In the budget this week, I allocated an additional €16 million in full-year funding to the National Ambulance Service. I spoke to the head of the service, Robert Morton, about this and noted the service is very happy with the level of investment. It means more paramedics, including more advanced paramedics, more student places and quicker response times.

I acknowledge that the ambulance service is exceeding its own targets. We have had many debates in this House in which it was said the service was getting better and better and closer and closer to its targets. It is now exceeding its response-time targets. It is not all perfect because there are cases in which people do not get an ambulance quickly enough, but I credit the service on getting better and better and more and more responsive. The new training college in Youghal, County Cork, will make a big difference.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I am very pleased with that information. I am delighted to hear that the Minister will be in Youghal and about the difference the capital development will make.

I recognise the contribution the ambulance service makes to our community. It is under huge pressure, as its staff tell me. Above all else, the new facility will bring a new generation of young people into the service, making a difference for the entire region. Youghal will be a very worthy home for it. Beyond the election, I believe it is important that the Minister get to Youghal to see the site for himself. I know he is committed to coming down in mid-October and he will be very welcome when he does so. Towns like Youghal need support from the Government. They have taken on a heavy burden, whether through IPAS accommodation or the lack of industry and investment. That is why it is important that the Government responds through capital plans such as that of the Minister and his Department, bearing in mind how we can deliver and improve upon services in these areas and the congregation of State investment in education. This is just one key example of how it could work so well.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I call the Aire.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I think we are good.