Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge and respect what the Minister has said. The bottom line is that this decision was made by NAMA after an offer of €14 million was received. I am reliably informed that €10 million would have been used to pay off the creditors and the remainder would have been available to meet NAMA's €6 million test. That means there is a differential of €2 million. As I have explained, there will be a loss of €19 million to the public purse in the first year following the closure of Mount Carmel Hospital, when factors such as the loss of jobs and staff are taken into account. Therefore, the net cost to the State of the decision not to proceed in this manner - all of the other aspects of this issue that have been mentioned also need to be considered - will be €17 million. That is not on.

We need to hear the figures. NAMA needs to come in. I wanted a NAMA response to this Topical Issue matter rather than a medical response. The hospital's beds are being used to look after 2,300 patients on the waiting list. Some 1,100 public patients have been treated at the hospital already, thereby taking them off the waiting list. A further 1,200 patients are in the course of being treated and addressed, thereby taking them off the waiting list and relieving the pressure on trolleys. There were 309 people on trolleys in Dublin last Monday. Much of this pressure could be relieved. Thirteen or so geriatric patients with cognitive difficulties, who went into Mount Carmel Hospital a few weeks ago, have been shunted out again. The turnaround at the hospital had started before this decision was made. The financial documents show that it would have more than broken even in 2014. NAMA needs to explain this bad decision.

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