Private hospital operators to ‘lease’ public land

THE Government yesterday disclosed that operators of private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals would lease and not buy the lands involved.

It came during heated exchanges in the Dáil over the controversial policy as the Taoiseach confirmed the HSE will invite tenders for the contracts for the eight private hospitals by the end of this week.

That provoked Labour and Sinn Féin to separately claim that irrevocable contracts would be in place before the election, which will mean that a new Government will be powerless to reverse the decision.