Councillors stunned by HSE attitude

COUNCILLORS on a HSE forum were astonished to be told to find out for themselves where cutbacks had been made and only then would senior health officials confirm or deny they had taken place.

The meeting of the HSE’s south forum in Cork descended into a farce yesterday when 39 county councillors representing a population of 1.2 million were basically told go off and do their own homework.

The councillors, who come from as far afield as Carlow, Wexford and Kerry, had demanded that the HSE’s financial controller appear at yesterday’s meeting to explain where the cuts had been made and why there had been a financial overrun in the first place.