Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 172: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if a senior executive (details supplied) of the Health Service Executive ever expressed concerns regarding her proposals to use State lands for building private hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38946/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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On 14 July last, I issued a policy direction to the Health Service Executive under section 10 of the Health Act 2004 aimed at freeing up additional beds for public patients in public hospitals by moving up to 1,000 existing private beds in public hospitals into newly developed private hospital facilities on public hospital sites. I discussed with the chairman and chief executive of the Health Service Executive the implementation of this policy and the details of the assessment framework I set out with it. I understand the board of the Health Service Executive also considered steps to implement the policy. The board, the chairman and the chief executive of the Health Service Executive are rightly concerned to implement this policy correctly and to deal with operational issues arising in the best interests of public patients, which is the aim of the policy itself.