Man died after ambulance delay, Dáil told

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

A 68-year-old Mayo man died after his family drove him to hospital following a delayed ambulance response, the Dáil has heard.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the case was an example of the “severe crisis” in the ambulance service, which she said was “stretched to breaking point”.

She told the Dáil on Tuesday that Stephen Lavelle, from Erris, became “gravely ill” shortly after arriving at a pub in Binghamstown on Saturday, January 10th.

An ambulance was called at 10.25pm but none arrived “despite several follow-up calls”.

Ms McDonald said a doctor was called who told Stephen’s son Anthony that it was a “category one emergency”, adding: “You need to get him to hospital right now.”

She said that an increasingly distressed and desperate family put Mr Lavelle into a car for the 56-mile journey to Mayo University Hospital.

“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.

“Stephen’s head began to droop. His eyes were wide in his head, and Rebecca started CPR in the car.”

We have outstanding paramedics, but we don't have nearly enough of them

Ms McDonald said when the family finally 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 her heart goes out to Mr Lavelle’s heartbroken family, adding that no words could “adequately describe the horror” his relatives faced.

Ms McDonald said ambulances around the country were taking far too long to arrive but that this was “especially dangerous” in rural areas far from hospital.

She said the response should have been within the standard of 19 minutes but that this threshold was not met in more than half of cases.

She also said that ambulances had been treated as a bed outside the hospital, stuck waiting for hours outside rather than responding to emergencies.

Addressing the Taoiseach during Leaders’ Questions, she said: “We have outstanding paramedics, but we don’t have nearly enough of them.

“Four years ago, you were told that the service required an additional 2,000 staff by 2026 but not even a quarter of that number has been recruited.”

Micheál Martin said he was not aware of the specifics of the case but agreed that “no words can console” the family of Mr Lavelle and described his death as a “devastating loss”.

He said there had been significant investment in the ambulance service but reiterated this would be “no consolation” for the Lavelles.

“There has been significant investment in the first-responder approach, and in terms of the whole professionalisation of our medical area, because the principle being that the more first responders we can get to the scene of an accident or somebody becoming very acutely ill, is the most effective way of preventing loss of life and dealing with patients in very, very difficult and life-threatening situations.”

On recruitment, he said: “There had been additional posts allocated to the National Ambulance Service (NAS).

“We’re looking at this year alone again, another eight million (euros) 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.”

Ms McDonald said the Government was putting lives at risk by failing to resource and recruit for the service.

Mr Martin defended recruitment in the service but said further reforms in alternative care pathways were also needed.