HSE Injury Units were least geographically accessible in Donegal, Wexford, Mayo, Sligo, Kerry, and Leitrim, where one in four households were at least 79.1 km from their nearest unit.

When HSE Emergency Departments and Injury Units are considered together, Leitrim (38.2 km), Carlow (37.4 km), Donegal (34.8 km), and Longford (30.9 km) had the longest median distances to either service.

Fresh analysis from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) finds that in Donegal, all households were '75 km or more' from their nearest HSE Injury Unit service.

Of 166 Local Electoral Areas, ten had median distances of more than 40 km from residential dwellings to the nearest HSE General Hospital: Belmullet in Mayo (68.2 km); Carndonagh in Donegal (61.7 km); Conamara North in Galway (59.9 km); Arklow in Wicklow (55.2 km); Donegal in Donegal (50.5 km); Glenties in Donegal (49.1 km); Monaghan in Monaghan (45.7 km); Tullow in Carlow (45.5 km); Gorey in Wexford (44.4 km); and Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim (42.0 km).

HSE Injury Units were least geographically accessible in Donegal, Wexford, Mayo, Sligo, Kerry, and Leitrim, where one in four households were at least 79.1 km from their nearest unit.

placeholder image — HSE Injury Units were least geographically accessible in Donegal, Wexford, Mayo, Sligo, Kerry, and Leitrim, where one in four households were at least 79.1 km from their nearest unit.

The upper quartile distance was highest in Connemara North in Galway (76.2 km), followed by Belmullet in Mayo (73.9 km), Donegal in Donegal (65.3 km), Carndonagh in Donegal (65.2 km) and Kenmare in Kerry (61.3 km), indicating that one in four of the households in these areas live more than 61.3 km from their nearest HSE General Hospital.

Carndonagh also recorded one of the highest median distances to a HSE Maternity Department with a median distance above 60kms.

The five LEAs with the highest median distance to a HSE Emergency Department or Injury Unit - all above 50.0 km - were Belmullet in Mayo (68.2 km); Carndonagh in Donegal (61.7 km); Connemara North in Galway (59.9 km); Arklow in Wicklow (55.2 km); and Donegal in Donegal (50.5 km).

For primary care services, which include GPs, Pharmacies and HSE Primary Care Centres, Buncrana in Donegal, Portlaw-Kilmacthomas in Waterford and Ballymahon in Longford had median distances of 7.9 km or more to a GP. Households in Belmullet in Mayo, Kilmuckridge in Wexford and Conamara North in Galway had median distance of 7.8 km or more to a Pharmacy.

In several LEAs, 25 per cent of households were more than 10.0 km from their nearest GP, with the highest upper quartile distances recorded in Buncrana in Donegal (15.4 km); Portlaw-Kilmacthomas in Waterford (12.7 km); Belmullet in Mayo (12.4 km); Ballymahon in Longford (11.2 km); Athlone in Roscommon (10.9 km); and Kenmare in Kerry (10.6 km).

By town, referring to a built-up area with a population of least 1,500. Carndonagh in Donegal had the highest median household distance to a HSE General Hospital, with 50 per cent of the households further than 61.3 km.

Dr. Sinéad McLoughlin, Statistician in the Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Goals Division said the distance to health services varied considerably across the country.

"In highly rural and remote areas, the median distance of households to the nearest HSE Emergency Department was 40.0 km - around ten times farther than households in cities,” said Dr. McLoughlin, following the release of the new statistics.