Ambulances took more than an hour to reach over 1,500 emergency incidents during the first six months of this year.
In one instance, a response time of just under seven hours was recorded, while five other emergency calls took more than four hours to be attended, reports Breaking News.
The figures relate to incidents classified as “PURPLE” and “RED” between January and June 2025.
The National Ambulance Service (NAS) had initially stated that the data was unavailable and only released it after a review under Freedom of Information legislation, reports Breaking News.
Only four ‘PURPLE’ calls, which are regarded as the most serious emergencies, took longer than an hour to receive a response.
Records show response times for those four cases ranged from slightly over an hour to approximately 76 minutes, reports Breaking News.
There were 1,505 ‘RED’ calls, a lower emergency category, that experienced wait times of at least one hour.
Of those, six had response times exceeding four hours, while a further eight waited between three and four hours, reports Breaking News.
There were also 50 ‘RED’ calls with response times of between two and three hours, and 187 where waits ranged from 90 minutes to two hours.
The NAS said the majority of cases involving waits of more than an hour, around 1,250 in total, fell into the 60 to 90-minute range, reports Breaking News.
Out of 1,509 total cases, 365 were recorded in the regional health area covering Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo and Galway.
The next highest number, 356 cases, was logged in the region covering Tipperary South, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow and parts of South Dublin, reports Breaking News.
The National Ambulance Service said demand for its services continues to increase year on year.
In 2024, the service handled 430,000 calls, representing a 10% rise on 2023, with figures expected to reach 450,000 by the end of this year, reports Breaking News.
A spokesperson said: “Despite this increase in demand, NAS has continued to improve performance against HSE target times,
“74 per cent of PURPLE calls (life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest) and 46 per cent of RED calls (life-threatening illness or injury) [were] responded to within 18 minutes and 59 seconds in 2024 against a target of 75 per cent and 45 per cent respectively,” reports Breaking News.
An information note from the National Ambulance Service said just under half of all emergency calls are categorised as either RED or PURPLE.
It also noted that approximately 32% of patients taken to hospital were admitted following assessment, diagnosis and treatment in emergency departments, reports Breaking News.
The NAS added that some incidents may be reclassified as more serious as further information becomes available.
This means a call initially considered low priority can be upgraded if a patient’s condition worsens or new symptoms develop, reports Breaking News.
The information note added: “In many cases, the call may have remained classified at a lower acuity for the majority of its duration, with the upgrade occurring only at a later stage. As such, the associated response interval may not accurately represent a response to a high-priority emergency from the outset,” reports Breaking News.
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