HSE spent over €15m on water supplies

THE HSE spent more than €15m on water supplies to its hospitals, health centres and administration offices in the past three years.

The cost to the HSE rose by almost 40% nationally for the period 2006-2008, but by as much as 97% in the south-west. Figures supplied by the HSE show:

* A 95% increase in the south-east from €550,369 to €1,075,516.

* A 90% increase in the mid-west from €247,141 to €469,820.

* An 89% increase in the north-east from €322,174 to €609,899.

Elsewhere, increases ranged from 19% to 42%, with the exception of the east coast where the cost more than halved from €151,981 to €71,756 and the north-west where the cost dropped 25%.

Overall, the cost rose from €4.3m in 2006 to €4.9m in 2007 to €6m in 2008. The HSE claimed this represented a 28% increase in charges nationally, but the percentage increase based on these figures is closer to 40%.

Yesterday, Green Party Senator Dan Boyle said given water supply was vital to all hospitals, there could be a case for introducing graded charges to keep costs down.

“For instance, a hospital could be given a certain free water allowance based on the number of beds and staff and size of the hospital, and once that allowance had been reached then an excess charge could be applied,” Mr Boyle said.

He said costs could also be contained through more widespread use of proper water management systems, including checking for leaks.

The HSE said it was encouraging all hospitals to implement water leak detection surveys, in conjunction with local authorities, to identify leaks in water pipeworks, and also to examine further water conservation opportunities.

A statement from the HSE said access to secure quality water supply was core to the delivery of health services and that local authority provision of affordable water and waste water services was crucial to the HSE.

“Water charges per local authority varies greatly from €2.70/m3 in Wexford to €1.50/m3 in Galway. The HSE regions that spend more on water charges are generally based in the regions where local authorities’ charges are higher then average,” the statement said.

It also said that some local authorities had recently introduced volume-metric charges (€/m3) for the HSE and other commercial consumers, pushing costs up.