Ambulance crisis cited in Dáil as a big factor in Mayo man's (68) death
A political row has blown up following the death of a Mayo man earlier this month.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told An Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann today that on the night of Saturday, 10 January, Stephen Lavelle became gravely ill shortly after arriving at the pub in Binghamstown.
She elaborated: "An ambulance was called at 10.25 p.m. but despite several follow-up calls, no ambulance arrived.
"A doctor was called and by the time they arrived, Stephen's family were growing more and more distressed.
"The doctor told Stephen's son Anthony, "This is a category one emergency. You need to get him to hospital right now", but there was still no sign of the ambulance.
"In desperation, the family carried Stephen to a car to drive 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. Rebecca started CPR in the car.
"They finally did meet the ambulance but that was when 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. It was now well after midnight.
"Stephen's pulse came back after eight minutes of CPR. He was ventilated and brought to the ICU.
"Sadly, Stephen passed away the following morning. He was 68 years old. My heart goes out to Stephen's heartbroken wife and family.
"There are no words to adequately describe the horror faced by Stephen and his family. It highlights in a most harrowing way the severe crisis in our ambulance service.
"There are stories from all across the country of ambulances taking far too long to arrive. It is especially dangerous in rural areas where hospitals can be an hour or more away.
"We have outstanding paramedics but we do not have nearly enough of them.
"Four years ago, the government was told that the service required an additional 2,000 staff by 2026 but not even a quarter of that number has been recruited.
"The service is badly understaffed and paramedics operate under incredible pressure.
"Because of a chronic lack of beds in our hospitals, ambulances often arrive at emergency departments to find that there is literally nowhere for the patient to go, so the paramedics cannot hand over care.
"The ambulance effectively becomes a bed outside the hospital and sometimes they are stuck there for hours, parked up rather than on the road responding to emergencies.
"The ambulance service is stretched to breaking point and the government has known all of this literally for years, yet the recruitment of paramedics has not even scratched the surface of what is needed.
"The government has stood by and allowed all of this to happen, and it is people at their most desperate and vulnerable moments who pay the price. Tá ár seirbhísí otharlainne i ndeireadh na feide agus ag cur saolta i mbaol. Caithfidh an Rialtas scála na géarchéime seo a aithint agus gníomhú go práinneach.
"Does the Taoiseach accept the scale of this crisis? Does he accept that ambulance delays put lives at risk? What will the government do to make sure that no one ever has to go through what Stephen Lavelle and his family went through on that awful night?
Taoiseach Micheál Martin responded: "No words can console the family of Stephen Lavelle in terms of what happened and the loss of life in the circumstances the deputy described.
"I am not aware of the case specifically, but I take on board what she said about the delay in getting Stephen to the hospital. I do not have the full details of the case or the background to it. It is a devastating loss to the family.
"It is important to say, although this is of no consolation to the family, there has been very significant investment in the ambulance service over many years.
"There has been significant investment in the first responder approach and the whole professionalisation of the paramedical area, the principle being that the more first responders we can get to the scene of an accident or to somebody becoming very acutely ill is the most effective way of preventing loss of life and dealing with patients in very difficult and life-threatening situations. That has happened over a period.
"The National Ambulance Service, NAS, devised a national framework for ambulance coverage. There has been criticism of that framework in terms of how it operates.
"NAS defends the framework, which replaced a locally in situ-based ambulance service, as one that is nationally governed and nationally organised into the future.
"That drew on a lot of expertise at the time. Additional posts have been allocated to the service. This year alone, we are looking at another €8 million for 180 additional posts and the 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 had seen the total NAS staff rise to 2,430 as of August 2025. That is a rise of 25%, or 502 staff, since 2020, with 85% of the National Ambulance Service staff working in direct patient-facing roles.
"It deals with about 430,000 urgent and emergency calls - that was as far back as 2024 - which is up 32,000 calls on the previous year.
"The demand is increasing and continues to rise. The focus is on improving and increasing the performance of NAS, particularly in terms of life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest. It is improving but we will not be happy unless it is 100%. That is where we want this to be.
"Again, anything I have said is of no consolation to the family concerned. I will refer the case to NAS and to the HSE for further examination of what happened here and what the correct response and specific conditions should or could have been.
Deputy Lou McDonald said her colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, has written to the Minister for Health setting out the circumstances.
"I cannot imagine the fear that must have been felt in that car that night. Imagine, on dark country roads, your father crying out in pain, your husband fighting for his life and knowing still how far away you are from the hospital. That is the cost of the failure of this service.
"An emergency like Stephen's should be responded to within 19 minutes. That is the rule. That is the standard. That did not happen in his case.
"As a matter of fact, in more than half of such emergencies the 19-minute threshold is not met. The paramedics themselves are crying out for more resources.
"The government has failed to recruit and failed to resource and as a consequence, lives are at risk, and sadly and tragically, in this case Stephen's life was lost. I want to hear what the Taoiseach will do to make sure that this simply does not happen again."
An Taouseach: "There has been recruitment. An 25% increase in staff is a significant increase by any yardstick.
"The National Ambulance Service is also saying that it is developing alternative care pathways, which are important.
"It is in the process of reforming and expanding such pathways, which would include clinical capacity in terms of community paramedics deployed nationwide, clinical hubs and so forth.
"That would mean more appropriate treatment at the right level. That is something that clearly has to be worked on and further reforms need to be looked at with regard to the extent and nature of the coverage because the increase in urgent cases that the ambulance service is dealing with on an annual basis is quite significant.
"It will increase annually by a significant amount, so therefore resources have to be allocated.
In a statement, Mayo TD Keira Keogh expressed her deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Mr. Lavelle whose death has shocked the community in Erris and communities across Mayo.
Deputy Keogh this heartbreaking loss has once again highlighted the ongoing and well-documented crisis in ambulance cover in Erris.
"This is not a new problem. It is an issue that has existed for years and one that local retained firefighters, GPs and paramedics have consistently warned us about. Tragically, it has now cost us a life.
"On December 29 last, I wrote to the Minister for Health and the HSE to outline serious concerns about the lack of available ambulances in the Erris area and the unacceptable delays being experienced during emergencies.
"That correspondence detailed a deeply traumatic incident earlier in December where no ambulance was available for a critically injured young adult, forcing firefighters and local doctors to improvise life-saving responses while waiting for resources to be reactivated.
"I made it clear at that time that lives were at risk.
"I will be meeting with the HSE in early February, along with an experienced local firefighter, and once again I will raise these issues directly.
"I will be seeking clear answers, accountability, and urgent action to ensure that Erris is no longer left without reliable emergency ambulance cover.
"Belmullet and the wider Erris area are remote, with long journey times to Mayo University Hospital, poor road infrastructure, and frequent unavailability of ambulances due to handover delays or redeployment across the wider region.
"This, unfortunately, creates a perfect storm in emergency situations and leaves communities dangerously exposed.
"The people of Erris deserve the same level of emergency care as any other part of the country. We must ensure lack of ambulance cover ever results in tragedy.
"I will continue to press the HSE and the Minister for Health, to ensure that meaningful and immediate changes are made so that no family has to endure such a loss again.
"I also want to pay tribute to the first responders and local health professionals who attended the scene, and who do extraordinary work in extremely difficult circumstances.