Ambulances took over an hour to respond to almost 3,500 calls classified as high priority last year

AMBULANCES TOOK OVER an hour to respond to almost 3,500 calls that were classified as high priority last year.

In one case, a delay of nearly seven hours was recorded while in five other callouts, the time logged was in excess of four hours.

The National Ambulance Service said wait times exceeded one hour for 13 emergency calls that were classified at their highest acuity level of PURPLE.

In another 3,481 cases, categorised as RED, a person was left waiting at least 60 minutes for emergency services to arrive.

The NAS said the figures needed to be treated with caution as the status of a call could change mid-incident.

An information note said: “Certain calls represented within this report may have been initially assessed as a lower acuity but were subsequently reclassified to a Category 1, as additional information became available, or the patient’s condition evolved.”

It said there would have been many cases like this where an emergency was initially considered lower priority and later had to be upgraded.

“The associated response interval may not accurately represent a response to a high-priority emergency from the outset, and should be interpreted with due caution,” the note said.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show a wait of six hours and 55 minutes in one case classified as RED, the second-highest priority categorisation.

There were five of between four and five hours, 22 of between three and four hours, and 136 of between two and three hours.

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Overall, the NAS sets a target of responding to 45% of RED and 75% of PURPLE calls within 19 minutes of receiving them.

Nationwide, the target for highest-acuity PURPLE calls was achieved in around 71% of cases in 2025.

However, in December of last year, that rate dropped to 62.5%, according to figures that were released under FOI.

For high-acuity RED calls, around 44% of callouts were responded to within 19 minutes. The figure also fell in December to 37.4%.

Asked about the records, the NAS said it continued to face “sustained and growing demand.”

During 2025, it responded to around 450,000 emergency calls, which was an increase of 5% on the previous year.

A statement said: “This reflects wider pressures across the health system, including an ageing population and increasing chronic illness.”

The NAS said significant investment had been made to meet demand, with increases in budget and staffing, as well as fleet replacement and expansion.

The statement added: “Response time targets in Ireland are set at a national level and prioritise the most clinically urgent cases.

“For example, the target is to reach 75% of the most life-threatening (cardiac or respiratory arrest) calls within 18 minutes and 59 seconds.

“There are no maximum response time targets beyond these thresholds, and longer response times, including those exceeding one hour, must be considered in the context of clinical prioritisation and demand at that time.”

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