As the dispute over the HSE decision to tax ‘Benefit in Kind’, the paramedics involved can no longer provide out of hours emergency cover because their emergency response vehicles are now based at LUH. This weekend the vehicles will remain at LUH from Friday evening until Tuesday morning due to the Bank Holiday. Donegal’s remote parishes can only hope that an ambulance will arrive in the same timeframe provided for free by the paramedics. The loss of the service has been described as a disaster and a serious backward step by rural politicians. The issue is the subject of a Dail question to the Minister for Health this week. There is growing concern that this vital service could be lost permanently and rural communities can no longer take it for granted that an emergency vehicle will reach the scenes of an incident within 15/20 minutes as has been the case in recent years.
