‘Safety’ of tax-break hospitals questioned

INVESTORS got millions of euro of tax breaks to build private hospitals which may not meet future quality and safety standards, it has emerged.

The Department of Health raised serious questions about the merits of the tax-shelter scheme in a submission to the Commission on Taxation last year. The submission was only published in recent days. In it, the department says some of the hospitals built under the scheme “may prove unable to meet future quality, safety and case volume standards”.

The submission may raise questions as to why the Government allowed the scheme to run for so long.