Vol. 571 No. 1
288 Dr. Cowley asked the Minister for Defence the reason a person (details supplied) who should have been brought to the orthopaedic unit at Merlin Park Hospital was brought to Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, instead, due to an alleged lack of fuel in an Air Corps helicopter which performed the transfer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20292/03]
On 8 September 2003 the Coast Guard station at Malin Head tasked the Sligo-based search and rescue helicopter to transfer a patient, following an accident, from one of the offshore islands to hospital. No specific hospital was mentioned either by the Coast Guard or by the attending medical personnel on the island. As such, the crew flew the patient to the nearest accident and emergency unit which was at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
I assure the Deputy that, had they been so requested, the crew had sufficient fuel to fly from the island to Merlin Park Hospital.
