Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney has instructed the Health Service Executive (HSE) to delay the development of some new hospital facilities, writes Martin Wall
The Irish Times has learned that at the end of June, the Minister wrote to the HSE advising that it should not go ahead with the development of new facilities, including wards and theatres, at Longford/Westmeath general hospital in Mullingar pending an audit of the running costs.
The Tánaiste also instructed the HSE that it should not proceed with plans to tender for the construction of the major redevelopment of the Mater hospital without specific sanction from her department.
The Mater development, which will include a new children's hospital to replace Temple Street children's hospital, is expected to cost nearly €500 million and will be the most expensive healthcare project in the history of the State.
Ms Harney's move forms part of a deal on overall capital funding for the health services with the Department of Finance, which had raised concerns about the future cost of staffing and running new hospital units to be constructed under the Government's €600 million healthcare capital programme for this year.
In June, after months of wrangling, the Tánaiste announced a €600 million capital programme for the health sector.
However official correspondence reveals that Minister for Finance Brian Cowen had agreed to sanction the investment only on the basis that the Longford/Westmeath development be delayed and that the Mater project go to tender only with the specific approval of his department.
The Department of Finance had expressed concern at the cost of staffing and operating some of the new facilities which were planned to go to tender or construction later this year under the capital plan.
In late May the Tánaiste asked the then interim chief executive of the HSE, Kevin Kelly, to review the additional revenue costs of some of these projects.
"The level of additional revenue costs is considered high and may not be sustainable in the context of future non-capital funding requirements of the health services generally," she wrote.
In late June, following receipt of sanction from the Minister for Finance, the Tánaiste wrote again to Mr Kelly and set out the conditions under which the capital programme had been approved.
"The Mater and Children's hospital development project will not proceed to tender in 2005 without my department's specific sanction.
"The Longford/Westmeath Phase 2b project will not proceed pending a full audit by an outside firm engaged by my department to establish the scope for minimising staff and revenue consequences, including the scope for securing offsetting savings within the existing hospital," she wrote.
It is understood that the Mater project was scheduled to go to tender next month with a view to having construction started by February.
A spokesman for the Tánaiste said yesterday that the department did not believe that the project would be delayed.
He said that the new conditions formed part of an overall financial management programme.