{"id":397307,"date":"2026-04-14T03:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T03:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397307\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T03:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T03:50:18","slug":"health-minister-warns-chemotherapy-and-urgent-care-at-risk-if-fuel-protests-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397307\/","title":{"rendered":"Health minister warns chemotherapy and urgent care at risk if fuel protests continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has raised fears chemotherapy or other urgent care could be affected if \u201canarchic\u201d fuel protests continue<\/a>, although she said ambulances have now been refuelled.<\/p>\n

Ms Carroll MacNeill was speaking during the Irish Medical Organisation annual conference in Killarney.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased to be able to say the ambulances were refuelled overnight,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n

She called on patients to keep calling for help, saying: \u201cWe want you to come. If you need an ambulance, call an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n

However she said: \u201cWe\u2019re concerned that were this to continue, we would have difficulties for example getting chemotherapy treatments delivered to hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re concerned that we would have difficulties with laundry services, support for the running of hospitals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She raised fears healthcare workers, including paramedics, might not be able to drive to work if they cannot fill their own cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the concerns we are worried may come into being in the early part of next week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I would ask everybody to please step down from this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Irish Medical Organisation also raised concerns about patient risks. However, individual doctors have pointed out that delays and pressures are not new within the Health Service Executive and were not caused by the blockades.<\/p>\n

In response, Ms Carroll MacNeill told the Irish Examiner: \u201cI think this is a different sort of threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo where you are managing the health system broadly and making sustained improvements that is one thing, this is a threat to the very functionality of the state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protesters in many regions have been supported by local communities. For example, free food deliveries have been made for those at Whitegate Oil Refinery in Cork.<\/p>\n

The minister said \u201cthe silent majority\u201d have concerns, however.<\/p>\n

She described Government spending of about \u20ac4m per day on supporting various sectors through the fuel price crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than any other European country is doing, and we\u2019re also doing it for a period that is longer than any other European country; until the end of May and in the case of some of the rebates until the end of June,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had said at that point it would always be the case we would look at additional sectors that are under pressure and see how the situation in Iran, which is the cause of all of this, is evolving.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd whether additional packages would be necessary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe will never, more than any other government, be able to meet all of the costs arising from the fuel crisis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Carroll MacNeill also raised concerns about how the protests are happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something different about the nature of this protest which is not something that we\u2019ve seen in Ireland before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She pointed to Ireland\u2019s \u201cvibrant democracy, very strong civil society groups\u201d and said the Government regularly engages with recognised unions such as the Irish Medical Organisation or the Irish Farmers Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis stability and predictability has been the cornerstone of our society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd an anarchic set of protests – that have no basis in law, no basis in our customs and practice and no validity in terms of the way in which they\u2019ve been conducted – these are not peaceful protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis goes beyond the concept of peaceful protest, this is deeply deeply disrupting the economic and social fabric of the state.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has raised fears chemotherapy or other urgent care could be affected if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[63615,103,397,4892,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-397307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-fuel-prices","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-health-news","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}