Non-emergency ambulance journeys will cost five euros each or up to 120 euros a year

Chronically-ill patients, those who cannot get about but need treatment, or patients who need to go to hospital regularly for consultations need ambulance transport, but it is not necessarily an immediate life-or-death situation such as a traffic accident or a heart attack.

This is the argument put forward by health minister Ana Mato.

Pensioners earning less than 18,000 euros a year will have to pay 10 euros every six months, or 20 euros a year, for regular ambulance trips and those earning over this amount will have to pay 40 euros a year.

Anyone earning 100,000euros or more per annum has to pay 60 euros twice-yearly.

One-off ambulance trips will cost five euros each way, or 10 euros' return.

People who need ambulance transport which is not an emergency can include cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, where they are not well enough to drive, or disabled people such as accident victims or people with MS, wheelchair and crutch users in general, people who suffer a one-off bout of food poisoning which precludes them from driving to A&E, patients on dialysis, or with cataracts who need regular consultations and treatment.

This new requirement has not yet been approved in Parliament.