asked the Minister for Health (i) whether ambulance crews are insured by local authorities against death or injury while on duty; (ii) in what cases, if any, a man employed in an ambulance or a fire brigade crew is obliged to pay all or any proportion of medical, surgical or specialist fees, or hospital charges, arising from injury while on duty; and (iii) whether he proposes to make, or recommend, any change in the present position in this regard.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Insurance of Ambulance and Fire Brigade Crews.
19.
I have no information as to the nature or extent of the insurances effected by local authorities to cover their liabilities to ambulance crews under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1934 to 1955, the Civil Liabilities Act, 1961, or any other statutory code or at common law.
Staffs of the type referred to in the question are eligible for benefits under the Health Acts in the circumstances mentioned to the same extent as comparable members of the community and I would not feel justified in proposing to the Oireachtas that, for the purposes of those Acts, they should be treated exceptionally.