A critically ill man from north Mayo whose family were forced to drive him more than 80 kilometres to hospital because of an ambulance delay died just hours after arriving at Mayo University Hospital, the Dáil has been told.
Stephen Lavelle fell seriously unwell at his home in An Geata Mór on Saturday 10 January in what a doctor classified as a category one emergency, reports RTE.
However, due to a delay in the arrival of an ambulance, his family had no option but to transport him themselves over a long distance to hospital.
They eventually encountered the ambulance just three minutes from Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, reports RTE.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the emergency response should have occurred within 19 minutes, but that standard was not met.
She said the incident highlighted the “severe crisis” facing the ambulance service, which she said is now “stretched to breaking point”, reports RTE.
“His wife Martina, his son Anthony, and his daughter-in-law Rebecca all accompanied him. As they drove, Stephen’s condition deteriorated.
“He was screaming in pain. They kept getting disconnected from the ambulance service because of the bad mobile phone coverage.
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“Stephen’s head began to droop. His eyes were wide in his head, and Rebecca started CPR in the car,” she said, reports RTE.
Ms McDonald said that when the family eventually met the ambulance, they were “only three minutes away from the hospital”.
“When they arrived, nobody was waiting for them at the hospital. Anthony ran in and got help, and it was now well after midnight.
“Stephen’s pulse came back after eight minutes of CPR. He was ventilated and he was brought to the ICU, but sadly, Stephen passed away the following morning,” she said, reports RTE.
Ms McDonald said that fewer than a quarter of the 2,000 staff needed to properly operate the ambulance service nationwide have been recruited.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said no words could ease the pain of Mr Lavelle’s family, but he pointed to significant investment in the ambulance service in recent years, reports RTE.
He said he would ask the ambulance service and the HSE to examine the circumstances surrounding Mr Lavelle’s case.
On staffing, he said: “There had been additional posts allocated to the National Ambulance Service (NAS).
“We’re looking at this year alone again, another €8m for 180 additional posts, and for development of NAS specialist services – about 81 of those have been recruited to date with the remainder at various stages of recruitment.
“At the moment, investment by Government is seeing total NAS staff rise to 2,430 as of August 2025 and that’s a rise of 25% or 502 staff since 2020 – with 85% working in direct patient facing roles,” he said, reports RTE.
Ms McDonald said the Government’s failure to properly resource and recruit staff for the ambulance service was putting lives in danger.
Mr Martin defended the progress made in recruitment but said additional reforms, including alternative care pathways, were also required, reports RTE.
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