Ahern on defensive after A&E expose

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night angrily denied Ireland’s A&E crisis could be compared to the Third World as he came under intense pressure over the state of casualty units.

Stung by criticisms of health service conditions which were sparked by an RTÉ Prime Time investigation, Mr Ahern insisted the Government was doing all it could to turn the situation around.

The Taoiseach admitted there was “distress”, but he said two-thirds of the State’s 53 acute hospitals were providing an excellent service and record levels of funding were treating three million people a year.