The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, is under growing pressure to release extra funding to prevent hospital ward closures and layoffs of nursing staff, following revelations that his Department has an extra £32.5 million to spend.
Despite Opposition fury and two hours of uproar in the Dail yesterday the Department of Health insisted the surplus money would be spent by the end of the year, but not on hospitals. Sources said the Government would not provide additional money to avert ward closures and staff layoffs at University College Hospital, Galway, or deal with the impending bed closures in hospitals at Tullamore and Mullingar.
Department officials acknowledged that buoyant health levies had produced £65 million more than expected this year. Half was used to meet an overrun in health spending, and the remaining £32.5 million would be used by the end of 1998 to fund "demandled" schemes such as the drugs refund programme, they said.
A supplementary estimate giving effect to this will shortly be agreed between the Departments of Health and Finance.
None of the extra money will go to hospitals as the Government insists the Exchequer cannot help health boards which exceed their budgets.
Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Michael Noonan, described as "factually incorrect and downright dishonest" a briefing note provided by the Government to opposition whips explaining why the £32 million had been left unspent.
According to Mr Noonan, who was minister for health in the last administration, the Department hid the extra revenue and the Government had no intention of spending it until yesterday's row in the Dail. Even if the Minister decided to put the money into hospitals, it could not be done between now and Christmas, he added.
In Galway talks between the Irish Nurses' Organisation and hospital management representatives were suspended yesterday after 12 days of negotiations. The INO has sought the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission to help resolve the impasse.
The Western Health Board said it would be happy with LRC intervention.
Under the proposed cutbacks two wards and one theatre are to be closed and 45 temporary nursing staff laid off until Christmas. The hospital deficit is running at over £1 million.
Fine Gael's spokesman on health, Mr Alan Shatter, is to appeal a decision by the Department of Health not to reveal records relating to waiting lists which he sought under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Shatter was told by the Department it would not be in the public interest to release the information at present.