Costs revealed for private ambulances
There has been a call for more support for the National Ambulance Service. Picture: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie
The HSE has revealed it is paying over €1 million per annum to private ambulance services for services to Mayo University Hospital (MUH).
Sligo councillor Cllr Declan Bree queried the cost of private ambulances to the HSE for hospitals in Sligo, Letterkenny and Castlebar, at the September meeting of Regional Health Forum West and North West.
A written response noted that in 2024, the HSE paid €1.2 million for private ambulances at Mayo University Hospital, rising to €1.4 million in 2025. This compares to Sligo University Hospital where private ambulance services were paid €633,000 in 2024 and €933,000 in 2025. The payments at Letterkenny University Hospital were €1.3m in 2024, rising to €1.7m in 2025.
Cllr Bree said: “This is a terrible waste of HSE money and I find it shocking, given the service the National Ambulance Service (NAS) is engaged to provide. The ongoing failure of government to provide resources to NAS compels regional hospitals to rely on private ambulances. For far too long in this country we have witnessed the growth of private medicine at the expense of the public good. NAS is being shortchanged. We need to seek a public social care service that is effective and sustainable.”
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
