Taxpayer faces multimillion euro bill over axed co-location plan

THE controversial co-location plan to build private hospitals on public hospital grounds has been scrapped, leaving the taxpayer potentially exposed to a multimillion euro compensation bill.

The decision was made yesterday by the board of the Health Service Executive (HSE) following a meeting with Health Minister Dr James Reilly, which also signalled a shake-up of senior HSE management.

However, the state faces the likelihood of being sued by the Beacon Medical Group (BMG), which has spent more than €30m on the project. BMG was awarded three co-location contracts at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, at Cork University Hospital and at the Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick.