Public interest

WHY did we ever have private beds in public hospitals? Was it because, at a time when pressure on public beds was not nearly as great as it is now, we had surplus capacity which we decided to rent out to the private sector?

If so, fair enough.

But why continue this policy of having 20% of beds in public hospitals designated private when public patients are lying on trolleys because of a shortage of public beds. What would be so wrong if Mary Harney were to announce the phasing out of private beds in public hospitals ?