A consortium of doctors, solicitors and accountants is in discussion with the Department of Health about the provision of the country's first dedicated helicopter ambulance service.
The operation would be run on a not-for-profit basis by a charity which would be established for the purpose.
Mr David Hall, chairman of HEMS Ireland, the company behind the project, told The Irish Times that the helicopter service could be running by the middle of next year using a leased aircraft.
The helicopter would transport patients between hospitals. A limited service of this type is currently operated by the Air Corps and the coast guard helicopter service.
Mr Hall said the company would be looking for tax breaks from the State, and for Department of Health funding to cover initial costs. It envisaged that its on-going operations would be financed through public subscription and corporate donations. The service could cost €1.8 million per year to operate.
Meanwhile, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children was told yesterday that a consultancy report, commissioned by the Department of Health, had recommended the introduction of a dedicated airborne, inter-hospital transfer service on an all-island basis.
The consultants' report estimated that a dedicated helicopter service could carry out between 400 and 600 inter-hospital transfers per year.
Mr Denis O'Sullivan, principal officer at the Department of Health, told the committee that in addition to the proposed private-sector helicopter operation, the service provided by the Air Corps would be enhanced from next year following a fleet-replacement programme.
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