We have a serious issue with waiting times for ambulance arrivals - 500 times in six months last year, ambulances took longer than an hour to arrive on the scene of a high priority case. These can be cases of life and death, literally. The Minister for Health may wish to respond. I have just been informed of a very sad case in my constituency in which an elderly woman suffered broken bones and a head injury at her home, which is ten minutes from a hospital. The ambulance took three hours to arrive and the delay, the family were told, resulted from a shortage of trolleys at St. Vincent's University Hospital. Very sadly, this poor woman died some weeks later. I express my deepest sympathies to her family, who asked me to raise this case. The family deserved better than a three-hour wait for an ambulance to bring a patient just ten minutes up the road. How will the Minister act to speed up ambulance responses?

I thank Deputy Bacik. Like Deputy Bacik, the first thing I want to do is offer my condolences to the family of the lady. A three-hour wait is simply not acceptable. I would like to get more details of the specific case, if the Deputy does not mind.

I will supply those.

The issue of trolleys and congestion in hospitals, particularly at weekends, is an absolute priority for me. I will be bringing a series of data points to Cabinet on this next week. There are two issues - I am happy to discuss them with all Deputies - namely those relating to underlying capacity and work practices. Even in the very short period that I have been the Minister for Health, I have seen considerable problems across hospitals on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays. Different hospitals manage matters differently, but this is a matter of major concern for me. I am happy to speak to all Deputies on this, directly and very soon.