Family forced to drive 90km to hospital as ambulance service could not respond to emergency, Dáil hears

Mary Lou McDonald said that the Government had been told in 2022 that 2,000 additional staff were needed in the service

During Leaders' Questions, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the case of Stephen Lavelle from Ardmore, Binghamstown near Belmullet in Mayo who died in Mayo University Hospital on Sunday, January 11. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

A family drove their dying father 90km to a hospital as he screamed in pain because no ambulance was available, the Dáil has been told.

During Leaders' Questions, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the case of Stephen Lavelle from Ardmore, Binghamstown near Belmullet in Mayo who died in Mayo University Hospital on Sunday, January 11, saying that there are "no words to adequately describe the horror" faced by Mr Lavelle's family, and that it underlined the crisis in the ambulance service.