A cabinet minister has confirmed that there were fewer ambulances than usual on the night that a Louth man bled to death in his home.

Brendan Howlin says there are usually 10 ambulances working in the Dundalk area - but only eight were serving one night last week.

It took 39 minutes for one of those to reach the home of 25-year-old Dualtagh Donnelly, who cut his arm on a glass door and bled to death.

That's despite the father-of-two living only around five minutes' drive from Louth County Hospital. 

Minister Howlin blamed the reduction on "short-notice absences":