The Fine Gael 'contract' promising to provide 2,300 extra hospital beds cannot be delivered, Minister for Health Mary Harney has said.
Speaking at a Progressive Democrats media briefing in Dublin, Ms Harney said it was "simply not possible" that 2,300 new acute hospital beds can be put in place within five years, as outlined in the Fine Gael/Labour joint health manifesto.
Ms Harney said Fine Gael and Labour had been inconsistent in their timeframe for the promised delivery of beds. Even the private Beacon Hospital, the fastest ever such project completed, had taken around three years, she said.
Ms Harney said the Opposition 'contract' promises that 460 new beds will be created each year on average over a five-year term of government.
"That is the equivalent of one major new hospital a year," she said. The current Government had delivered around 200 new beds a year, Ms Harney said.
"We have in Ireland at the moment 16,400 beds between the public healthcare system and the private healthcare system."
Ireland has 13,700 beds in the public health system and 2,500 private beds. It was "at the top" in terms of the number of acute beds in the healthcare system based on our population, she said.
Ms Harney said about 13 per cent of people admitted to hospital "should not be admitted in the first place" because they were admitted while awaiting diagnostics. About 39 per cent of bed-days were "inappropriate".
The Government had promised in 2001 to put in place 3,000 extra acute beds by 2011. To date, it had put in place about 1,500, she said.
A further 1,000 would be put in place by way of the plan for 'co-location' of private facilities alongside public hospitals and the National Development Plan had funding for a further 400, she added.
"The Government will reach the target it set in 2001 by 2011, which was the target date. Our co-location proposal is the fastest and most cost-effective way of providing acute beds.
"We already have co-location within our public hospitals. We have 20 per cent, on average, of our beds ringfenced for private patients.
"These beds have been paid for by the taxpayer, 100 per cent, they are staffed by nurses that are paid for by the taxpayer, the diagnostics that are used are paid for by the taxpayers...but those beds are only available to insured patients or 'self-payers'. Our plan is to convert 1,000 of those 2,500 beds for the use of all patients based on medical need."
Ms Harney said two years had been spent on the proposal and it had gone through a very rigorous public procurement process. The beds would be put in place within a three- to four-year timeframe and at less than half the cost of providing them in the traditional way.
"I passionately believe one should only get into hospital on the basis of medical need and I believe it's a moral imperative in any decent society that essential healthcare is available to people on the basis of medical need and on no other basis. And no preferential treatment should be given in our public hospitals, funded by the taxpayers, to one group of people over and above another."