The Mid-Western Health Board has admitted it moved two patients out of a corridor at Nenagh General Hospital before a visit from the Taoiseach. The patients were then moved back after the Taoiseach left.
Fine Gael, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and a patients' association criticised the action, but the MWHB said "no cosmetic exercises" were involved in moving the patients.
Fine Gael councillor Mr Noel Coonan said there was "lot of disquiet" among the public and staff of the hospital over what had happened. Mr Fintan Hourihan, director of industrial relations with the Irish Medical Organisation, said "hiding the problems when key politicians visit the hospital" seemed to be "a self-defeating move". Mr Stephen McMahon, of the Irish Patients' Association, asked if the patients were moved to appropriate accommodation for the visit, "why were they not there in the first place?"
The MWHB said in a statement: "It is not health board policy to attempt to conceal the realities of the pressures facing acutre hospitals." It said the decision was "taken at local nursing level to preserve the dignity of the patients concerned".