Cork hospitals have the worst ambulance turnaround times in the country.
Nationally, four out of every five ambulances spent over 30 minutes at an emergency department last year, before offloading a patient and getting back on the road.
The HSE's target is less than half an hour.
But that was only met in 20.8 per cent of cases last year, according to freedom of information files.
Here in Cork the target was only met in 4.5% of cases at Cork University Hospital, followed by the Mercy University Hospital at 5.5%.
David Hall, the chief executive of Lifeline Ambulance Service, says the problem is caused by overcrowded emergency departments.
