Firm: Co-location remains on course

THE company due to build a €297 million co-located hospital in Cork yesterday said the project would go ahead despite a senior staff pay review and the sacking of six head office staff.

The Beacon Medical Group (BMG) confirmed senior management had agreed to a pay review and that six head office staff had been let go following an internal appraisal.

BMG won the HSE tender to construct three of the proposed co-location hospitals in Cork, Limerick and at the Beaumont in north Dublin. All three projects, expected to cost a €850m in total, have been delayed due to appeals over planning permission granted for the hospitals.

BMG moved quickly to deflect any concerns that it would be unable to proceed with the three co-location hospitals, particularly as final contracts have yet to be signed with the HSE.

BMG commercial director Pauline Cullen said: “This is not going to affect anything to do with Cork.

“We have our full co-location team in place. It is not going to affect co-location.” It is understood that while final contracts for the three projects have not been signed with the HSE, project agreements have been signed. The company described its review of senior management and numbers and pay as “cost consolidation”.

“Given the delays we are experiencing [regarding the building projects] and that no project has hit the ground we have had to make some hard decisions,” she said.