Connemara group want accountability from HSE following delays to proposed ambulance base

A Connemara group who have campaigned for an ambulance base in the region have called for the HSE to be held to account following further delays.

The Connemara Ambulance Crisis Group who have been campaigning for an ambulance base for north Connemara for over a decade have expressed their frustration following further delays in the delivery of a base.

In 2021, the National Ambulance Service confirmed that a new ambulance base in Recess would be operational in the spring of 2022 but more than three years later there has been no new developments.

Following a response to a Parliamentary question raised by local Sinn Féin TD, Mairéad Farrell on May 30 last, the group were advised that approval to proceed to tender for a new base would be sought in the next two weeks, while the contractor was to be appointed by Q3 of 2025, and the project would be substantially complete by the end of the year.

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However on June 19, the group were then informed that there would be further delays and it would be Q3 or Q4 of 2025 before a preferred bidder is appointed for the project and it would take six months to complete.

The latest delays has angered the Connemara Ambulance Crisis Group who have called on the Minister of Health to hold the HSE and the National Ambulance Service accountable for the delays.

“Within three weeks of answering Deputy Farrell there is yet another delay. Just how much more of this total incompetence should we take before the powers that be intervene?” questioned PJ Leavy on behalf of the Connemara Ambulance Crisis Group.

The group accused the HSE of causing all the delays in advancing the project and 'sitting on this doing nothing for months on end'.

“When will the HSE be held accountable? Why won’t they put someone forward to explain how this simple matter has gone on for so long and who is responsible for the delays.

“Where is the Minister for Health and the other leaders? Why can’t we get anyone from the HSE to explain how this total farce can be allowed to happen in the public eye?

“Whilst we are fighting to get the basic services for the Connemara area we have uncovered a system that is so broken and dysfunctional it really does need a complete overhaul.

“We have paramedics working hard every day to maintain a decent level of service who are being totally let down by the management of the HSE.

“The big question is where is the HSE management?” Mr Leavy asked.