An independent review of ambulance services is to be fast-tracked following the death of Donegal woman Maura Porter.
The late Maura Porter
Health Minister James Reilly has confirmed the move by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA).
Minister Reilly has taken the action following the death of Mrs Porter, 70, from Carndonagh, and other high-profile deaths in recent weeks.
Mrs Porter had to wait 50 minutes for an ambulance to travel from Letterkenny and later died at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.
A number of areas including Donegal with now come under the microscope in relation to ambulance response times and availability.
Dr Reilly said: “I know there has been a lot of concern over a number of incidents recently. And I am concerned myself.
“I’m very happy for HIQA to bring this forward and have a very thorough review of all these situations of the entire service, tell us what they feel the problem is, where the problems lie and we will address them. Because the safety of our citizens has to be paramount.”
Local Deputy Charlie McConalogue, a personal friend of the bereaved Porter family, raised the issue in the Dail on Wednesday.
He revealed how there was an ambulance station less than half a mile away from where Mrs Porter had been knocked down but this had been called away.
He called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the ambulance response time in the case and a review of ambulance services in Co Donegal.