Last Saturday night at 6.15 an 80-year-old woman left the gate of her home in the village of Castleconnell in County Limerick on her way to mass. Walking up the street she slipped and fell. Unfortunately, this 80-year-old sustained a painful hip fracture. Passers-by on their way to mass came to her assistance immediately, as did neighbours, and the ambulance was called. It took five hours for the ambulance to arrive for that 80-year-old woman. We in Castleconnell live 14 km from the city centre. You can imagine the distress and the upset to all those attending the 80-year-old woman who were told, correctly, by the ambulance and emergency services not to move her. She lay on the concrete footpath for five hours on Saturday night. They brought out blankets and cushions and tried their best to make her as comfortable as possible, but as we can imagine, it was very upsetting for everybody involved. Phone call after phone call was made repeatedly to the ambulance service to ask why it was not there yet and what had happened. I commend all of the neighbours who came to her assistance and supported her, and the off-duty emergency worker who came down to help them. I also commend the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, who got a phone call at 10 o'clock and who went out to the scene and did his best to try to help get an ambulance to her. I highlight this once again as another healthcare horror story in Limerick. I have written to the Minister for Health and I have asked her for a detailed explanation for the pensioner, her family and all those in the village of Castleconnell as to what could have happened to have delayed an ambulance for an elderly person for five hours that left her lying on the cold concrete at night-time in December. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, for raising the matter with the Minister on my behalf.

I also take this opportunity to highlight that, unfortunately, we have not yet received the Minister's recommendations on the HIQA report and her determination as to how she is going to proceed with improving healthcare services for us in the mid-west. I ask the Deputy Leader, if she could, please, to send a message to the Minister to ask if she could give us an update on that.