Hospital repays cost of food meant for less well-off

A Cork hospital, which used a food meant for people in poverty worth almost €22,000 to feed patients, has said that it believed at the time it was eligible for the scheme.

Mercy University Hospital in Cork City has repaid the value of the cheese and other goods it received from the Department of Agriculture’s Food for the Most Deprived programme between 2010 and 2013.

Following a newspaper report at the weekend, a statement on behalf of MUH said the hospital had understood it was eligible for the cheese, rice, and butter it received.