Laois TD, Charlie Flanagan, has asked the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to investigate the lack of Emergency Services in Laois on Tuesday last.
The minor hurling championship got underway across the county on that night and the meeting of Park-Ratheniska-Timahoe and Na Fianna took place in Ratheniska.
The game, which threw in at 8pm, was just 21 minutes old when a 15-year-old Park-Ratheniska-Timahoe player suffered a leg injury.
Once the severity of the injury was detected, the game was abandoned and an ambulance was called for.
However, at 10.20pm, the ambulance still had not arrived and the player had now been lying on the field for two hours.
When another call to the emergency services was put through, officials in Ratheniska were told that it ‘could be a few more hours yet’ before one arrived.
At this point, officials managed to locate a van and carry the injured player on a stretcher and place him into the back of it to transport him to A&E in Portlaoise.
Deputy Flanagan said: “This is not the first time, that there was no ambulance available in recent times.
“I find the circumstances of the Ratheniska incident to be unacceptable and I have asked the Minister for Health to deal with this matter urgently.
“The Emergency Services in Laois work hard to keep communities safe.
“I want to ensure that there are sufficient resources available to meet the needs of communities in Ratheniska and across Laois and Offaly.”
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