The withdrawal of an air ambulance four days a month will not put lives at risk due to contingency plans the Government has in place, the Taoiseach has said. Leo Varadkar said there is an issue with recruitment and retention of pilots after the Department of Defence said it would withdraw its Athlone-based air ambulance for 16 days between now and February 2020. An air ambulance service based in Cork is set to provide assistance four days a month from a new base in Roscommon to act as cover. The Coast Guard will help provide cover (Niall Carson/PA)The Department of Defence said the decision was reached due to training and staffing issues. Mr Varadkar said there was no air ambulance in Ireland up to five or six years ago.

Source: Irish Examiner November 16, 2019 16:52 UTC