Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I realise there is an obsession with co-location. The purpose of co-location is to convert some the beds currently available. Some 700,000 bed days per year are used in public hospitals funded by the taxpayer for private patients at a subsidy of considerably in excess of €100 million. Since I became Minister for Health and Children I have substantially increased the cost of those beds to the insurers. I have more than doubled the cost of category 1 beds and category 2 beds to reduce substantially the subsidy paid by the taxpayer to beds that can only be occupied by insured patients. This is the purpose of the policy. As the Deputy is aware, owing to consultant contracts and so on, it is desirable to keep our consultants on site rather than moving among three or four hospitals to look after private patients. I was in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin last night, which Deputy Reilly has often referred to as his constituency hospital. It has 110 beds for private patients. I believe it would be highly desirable to convert those beds for the use of public patients which the taxpayer is funding and the staff of which are all paid for by the taxpayer.

I do not have details regarding tax affairs of the relevant companies. There are rules relating to State projects which apply and relevant companies must be tax compliant. I am not aware of the tax position of any company involved. If the Deputy has information which he wishes to make available to me, I would be more than happy to receive it. It is not a matter for me. Project agreements and bids must be overseen by the HSE. I am not involved in the selection of tenders or in negotiations with bidders. I am optimistic that we can see progress by way of construction on these sites very quickly. I understand that from the time work begins it will be approximately two and a half years before these beds can be commissioned.

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