Sinn Féin TD for Roscommon/Galway, Claire Kerrane, has criticised the National Ambulance Service (NAS) decision to temporarily relocate the Athlone-based air ambulance to Dublin this month, calling the proposed move “unacceptable”.
The air ambulance, which serves as a critical response service for emergencies in Roscommon and surrounding areas, will be moved for six to eight weeks while structural repairs are carried out on the hangar in Athlone.
According to Deputy Kerrane, this decision will significantly impact emergency response times for the region. She stated: “Since my election in 2020, I have consistently highlighted issues in the ambulance service in Roscommon. A functioning and properly resourced ambulance service is absolutely critical to a county like Roscommon, which has no Emergency Department”.
She added that relocating the air ambulance to Dublin would erode the main benefit of the service for Roscommon: speed.
“It takes about 30 minutes to fly from Dublin to Athlone, which undermines the purpose of the air ambulance in emergency cases,” Deputy Kerrane noted.
According to Kerrane, NAS officials had previously committed to exploring alternative options to avoid lengthy relocations, such as using facilities at Knock Airport or Galway, after a similar relocation last year extended from an expected six to eight weeks to three months.
Kerrane urged the NAS to reconsider these options and warned that the decision points to a worrying trend in NAS management decisions impacting local emergency services. The TD also expressed frustration over previous cutbacks to emergency services in Roscommon, including the removal of 24/7 Advanced Paramedic cover.
“I am getting more and more concerned as to the decisions being made at management level in the NAS. I will not allow the NAS to do any of this quietly, and I will not stop highlighting these issues,” she concluded.
Senator Eugene Murphy also voiced concerns over the NAS’s approach, stating that he had contacted the NAS directly to address what he described as poor planning and an unsatisfactory response from the service.
“The NAS’s response on this matter has been inadequate,” Murphy said. “This is an urgent issue, and the people of Roscommon deserve better. I am calling for the NAS to prioritise this and explore alternative locations like Knock Airport to ensure minimal disruption to emergency services”.
