Hospital land contracts could be signed by April

CONTRACTS for Health Minister Mary Harney’s contentious private hospital plan could be signed in April, just a matter of weeks before the general election.

It means that should there be a change of Government, the incoming administration would be unable to reverse the plan.

Ms Harney proposes to sell State land on the grounds of public hospitals to developers, who will build private hospitals.

Her hope is that 1,000 beds will be freed up by moving private beds out of the public hospitals and into the new, co-located private facilities.

HSE chief executive Professor Brendan Drumm told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee yesterday that negotiations were continuing about individual sites. Some contracts could be signed as early as mid-April if the negotiations were successful, he indicated.

Department of Health secretary general Michael Scanlan said the sites could either be sold or leased.

But the objective in all cases was to get “full value” for the sites involved, at Limerick Regional, Waterford Regional, Cork University, St James’s, Beaumont, Blanchardstown, Tallaght and Sligo General hospitals.

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton questioned whether there was political pressure on the HSE to conclude negotiations before the election.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said a new administration would be unable to reverse the plan if the contracts were signed before the election.

But Mr Drumm denied the HSE was being pressurised, saying it had been working on the plan for more than a year. He said the HSE could not consider the political implications in finalising the contracts, as its task was simply to fulfil Government policy.