Cowen and Harney are ‘at one’ over health budget

TÁNAISTE Brian Cowen last night insisted he made no criticism of the Minister for Health over her financial management of the €16 billion health budget.

Amid claims that he sent a terse letter to Health Minister Mary Harney last week over her request for a €255 million supplementary estimate, Mr Cowen and Ms Harney last night issued a joint statement that insisted they “are at one”.

The statement followed an article in yesterday’s Sunday Tribune, which claimed Mr Cowen was not satisfied that the HSE had given adequate and proper explanations for the supplementary estimate.