Danny Healy-Rae makes air ambulance a red-line issue

The formation of the next government could hinge on State funding for the country’s first charity air ambulance.

This is because Danny Healy-Rae has made it a condition of any coalition deal he signs up to.

“It is totally wrong that this vital service has to lurch from one funding crisis to another because of a lack of funds,” the Independent Kerry TD said. “I feel so strongly about this that I have made it a red line issue for me.

It is a condition of me agreeing to join with any party or group that stands a chance of forming the next government.

“It has to be a priority for any government because it is such a vital service for the people of Cork and Kerry and other remote parts of the south west.”

Although the National Ambulance Service (NAS) provides medical staff and coordinates the taskings, the charity needs €2 million-a-year to fund the helicopters, pilots, fuel and its airbase.

It has said it has already raised over €700,000 through “donations, benefactors and public fundraising campaigns”.

In January, the ICRR charity raised just €61,848 of a €400,000 target it set for a two-week GoFundMe campaign.

When it launched it, it said it would ground its service if it couldn’t reach the target. That didn’t happen but the service was cut from seven to five days instead.

This was to ensure it could carry on for another six weeks, during which time it said it would try and come up with more money.

However, it - yet again - warned if it didn’t raise enough funds, the service again faces being grounded.

At the time, on January 21, the charity said the reduction was “a temporary fix to ensure six weeks of continued service before the financial viability of the service is reviewed again”.

That six weeks is now up and it is unclear what the situation is now.

Both Mr Healy-Rae and his brother Michael have championed the case for funding for the Irish Community Rapid Response charity air ambulance.

They have also helped raise funds for it.

They are both among a large group of independent TDs who are in informal talks with potential allies about how to progress their election wish-lists. They are part of the existing Rural Independents group from the last Dáil.

Health is one of their biggest bugbears, especially as they mostly represent a rural population that has often felt marginalised when it comes to resourcing health provision.

Such is their importance that the last time Fine Gael had to form a government, Enda Kenny sounded Michael Healy-Rae out about being a minister for rural affairs.