HSE has no answers on state of ambulance fleet

The HSE cannot say how many ambulances have broken down, how many instances have occurred with a patient on board, and how many of these vehicles are still on the roads — despite major concerns over the safety of the fleet.

A HSE official confirmed the situation as part of an ongoing Irish Examiner freedom of information request.

Earlier this week, the independent watchdog, the Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa), published a 187-page report underlining a series of concerns that are hampering the under-resourced service.