According to documents seen by Lusa and according to the Liga dos Bombeiros Portugueses (Leagues of Portuguese Firefighters), the 75 new vehicles were supposed to renew the fleet of ambulances allocated to the fire brigades and Red Cross delegations, which make up the medical emergency stations.

For the renewal of the vehicles, INEM had presented in 2017 a multi-annual plan - between 2018 and 2021, invoking the "absolute need for renewal" of the ambulances, due to the age of the vehicles, many of which are more than 12 years old, and the time they are off the road due to mechanical breakdown.

Documents consulted by the Lusa show that the then deputy health secretary Fernando Araújo agreed to this plan and in 2018 75 ambulances from emergency stations were renewed and delivered by the former health minister, Adalberto Campos Fernandes.

This year, the INEM planned to purchase another 75 ambulances and had to submit a request for authorisation to use the institute’s management balances from previous years, amounting to around €5 million to the finance ministry.

However, the Finance Department only committed €1 million.

When INEM ambulances are not available, the fire brigade and the Red Cross use their own vehicles, but the amount borne by the institute more than doubles.

Jaime Marta Soares, president of the League, regretted that the finance ministry wanted to "jeopardise the quality of emergency aid for the Portuguese".

"This will be very serious. It would leave people dying in the ditch. There is an agreement between the League of Portuguese Firefighters and the INEM, which so far has been correct, but which depends on the good or bad disposition of the finance ministry to be able to release funds that are only the result of good management of the INEM, they do not increase the state budget," Marta Soares said in statements to the Lusa.