by Louise Doyle

A LOCAL councillor has questioned the level of outsourcing at Letterkenny University Hospital after figures reveal more than €1.5 million has been spent on private taxi hire since 2020.

The figures, seen by this newspaper, were released to Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn on foot on a Parliamentary Question he submitted on behalf of Cllr McMonagle.

They show that since 2020 to June 2025, LUH spent €1,551,668 on private taxi hire.

The highest spend was in 2023, when expenditure on private taxi hire was €382,799. A total of €318,306 was spent on private taxi hire last year, while to June of this year, that cost stood at €191,008.

The lowest expenditure on private taxi hire by LUH was in 2021 (€92,600), while in 2020 €192,572 was spent on private taxi hire by the hospital.

Cllr McMonagle, who is also Chairperson of the Regional Health Forum West, told the Donegal News that private taxis for patients are used for a myriad of reasons. Asked if he thought the spend was a good use of resources, Cllr McMonagle said: “It is a significant amount over the last few years. When you look at the outsourcing for blood testing, for private ambulances, you don’t be long in losing half a dozen million.

“Whether the spend on private taxi hire is a good use of resources depends on what way you look at it.

“We’re talking about having an adequate and full proof ambulance service to deal with all eventualities. Not all ambulances are emergency, some are used to transfer patients. The demand for that is increasing, but it seems that rather than investing in the ambulance service and making it fit for purpose, private taxi hire is costing an exorbitant amount of money year on year.”

Cllr McMonagle said poor public transport in Donegal is a part of the problem.

“I’ve had constituents contacting me about the difficulty they have in getting to Roscommon Hospital or Manorhamilton Hospital because of the type of bus service we have.

“If you’re in Fanad and have to be in Manorhamilton Hospital at 9am in the morning you’re not going to get there unless you have your own transport. Some people do get taken to hospital by taxi as a last resort.

“The spend on private taxi hire shows the gaps at Letterkenny University Hospital when so much is being outsourced. How many more millions will we pay in outsourcing rather than building the extension to the laboratory in the hospital?”

Cllr McMonagle said that while the recent announcement that investment at LUH will include the development of a new surgical hub, he stressed the need for swiftness.

“We need to get that timeline very quickly, get diggers on site and be strict on deadlines.”