To ask the Minister for Health if the scenario in which a company wins a contract for the provision of ambulance services which does not have its own ambulances, which only purchases or seeks ambulances after the award of the contract, whose staff are not Garda vetted, that does not have staff to operate the service tendered for at the point of the award, still does not have the ambulances required to operate the services, and is now contracting out the services required to other ambulance companies other than the company that was successful in winning the tender poses a significant possibility of a civil suit by patients should the company fail to meet patient safety and operational criteria ( Cavan Monaghan hospital ran a tender for the provision of ambulance services based on price and quality. The contract was awarded to Festimed, an event company which deals with festival event emergencies. As part of the tender the company was required to have four ambulances that are less than 5 years old .The tender process were informed that Festimed did not have these. We are informed that on the first day of the contract two weeks ago they have been using three other private ambulance companies and have been trying to buy UK ambulances. Serious questions also arise as to whether staff have been Garda vetted.).
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