Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I am confused. Is the Minister suggesting there will be two identical hospitals with, for example, two clinical teams from cardiology to orthopaedics on both sides? For example, in order to cover for someone needing appendectomy in the middle of the night, will two full teams be needed, one in each of the two hospitals? If someone breaks a hip, will full teams be needed in both hospitals to deal with all the different specialties? People who work in the hospitals are puzzled about that.

This initiative was announced three years ago. Its purpose was to bring extra beds into the system. Three years later no sod is turned on any of those hospitals. We are now told the banks may be holding up their development because, in spite of them being PPPs, they want a guarantee that the State will ensure there is no loss of money.

The public does not understand what will happen here. Will we have two completely separate hospitals? The Minister has often said that in the area of cancer a minimum throughput of patients is needed and that we should have eight centres of excellence. However, in all the other specialties we will separate the private and public patients and have separate groups of doctors delivering the service. I do not understand that and it does not seem to fit in with what she says about cancer and the need for specialists to deal with a large number of patients in any one specialty.

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