Ahern: Not a red cent in coffers for hospitals

THERE is not a “red cent in the Exchequer” to develop a new regional hospital for the north-east, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern claimed yesterday.

Navan in Co Meath is the preferred site for a new regional hospital, according to study commissioned by the Health Service Executive (HSE) — a decision that has sparked political outrage throughout the region.

Mr Ahern moved to dampen the controversy yesterday saying he did not believe there was any likelihood of the hospital being built in the foreseeable future.

“This is a report which will be present, I think, for some time on some shelf because there isn’t a red cent in the Exchequer for this hospital and that’s the reality,” he said on local radio.

Mr Ahern said the HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm and “other people” were aware of the financial situation.

“In effect, there is no money for it, nor is there any likelihood of money for it in the foreseeable future, particularly in the context of the economic situation and the Exchequer situation,” he stressed.

Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd said it was a disgrace there was no money left in the State’s coffers after the economic boom to develop a regional hospital.

“It appears now that the process is just a paper tiger,” said Mr O’Dowd who earlier described the decision to choose Navan over Drogheda as flawed.

According to Mr O’Dowd, Drogheda, which has better transport links and a bigger population, was the ideal location.

“A new hospital is needed — everybody agrees on that, and there would be no controversy if Drogheda was the preferred site,” he said.

More than 1,500 people worked in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. “It does not make sense to tell them to get into their cars and head across very poor roads to Navan,” he said.

And for people who were ill and needed treatment, Drogheda should be the preferred choice because of its road and rail links.

But stalling the process because of a lack of finances was not the answer either because of the need to meet existing and future demands on hospital services in the region.

“We had been led to believe all along that the money was there for a new regional hospital, whatever we might feel about the site. Clearly, now, as a result of what he is saying, there won’t be a new hospital built for 20 years.”

A HSE spokesperson said the authority was due to receive the report of The Health Partnership yesterday.

Health Partnership are management consultants appointed by the HSE to carry out the location study for the new regional hospital.

The report is due to go to the HSE board next week. It is likely the report will also be sent to the Department of Health and will go before the Cabinet.