Labour leader calls on C&AG to analyse co-location costs

LABOUR leader Eamon Gilmore has called for an investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General into the Government’s controversial hospital co-location project.

One of the country’s main private healthcare providers yesterday refuted suggestions from Deputy Gilmore that the co-location plan will cost the taxpayer €1.3 billion.

The Beacon Medical Group said the State would actually benefit to the tune of more than €4bn.

However, Mr Gilmore said that there was a need for the public to see a full cost-benefit analysis of the co-location proposal, which will see eight private clinics being built on existing public hospital land over the coming seven years.

“One way to resolve this would be to ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to do an examination of the costs and benefits of this co-location plan,” he said yesterday.

“The interesting thing is that cost-benefit analysis was not done before the Government launched the co-location plan. They announced a co-location plan, they made the political decision to go ahead with the co-location plan, without having done a cost-benefit analysis and without having published it.

“And what I’m drawing attention to is the idea that they have been putting out that somehow the co-location plan involves no cost to the public purse.

“This is going to cost the taxpayer through tax reliefs that are going to be provided to developers, and it is also at the end of the day going to cost hospitals lost revenue from insured patients, and ultimately of course it will cost the ordinary family in increased insurance costs.”

According to the Labour leader, co-location will cost the exchequer 560 million in lost health insurance income for public hospitals and 800m in tax relief to the developers of the private clinics.

The Beacon Medical Group said yesterday that this is “inaccurate and completely untrue” and that the cost of treating private patients in public hospitals is approximately double what is received in income.

The State will instead benefit from rent to be paid on each clinic site; the employment of about 500 people in each new hospital; corporation tax; VAT; contract services; and stamp duty.

Beacon said that the three private hospitals it will be developing at Cork, Limerick and Beaumont in Dublin will net the State about €1.7bn, while the remaining five hospitals to be built at Tallaght, Sligo, Waterford, and St James’s and Connolly in Dublin will bring the total monetary benefit to the state above €4bn.

“Neither Mr Gilmore nor any of his colleagues has ever suggested a better alternative to co-location that is realistic and viable. They appear to be opposing for opposition sake,” the company said.

A spokesperson for the Government said that the National Development Finance Agency has already carried out a value-for-money analysis and given it the stamp of approval.