MINISTER FOR Health Dr James Reilly has refused to divulge any details of his investment in an abandoned health development he previously promoted in Swords, north Co Dublin.
Dr Reilly, along with two other GPs, was part of a consortium that planned to build a primary health centre at Airside Retail Park near Dublin airport.
The development, for which planning permission has been received, was funded partly through a loan from Ulster Bank, land registry documents show.
The Minister’s involvement in the project, which has since been abandoned, has attracted public scrutiny following Dr Reilly’s appearance in Stubbs Gazette over an unpaid debt arising from a separate investment.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of his plans to reorganise the HSE, the Minister declined to answer questions about the loan from Ulster Bank.
“Personal details are exactly that – personal – and I have no intention of sharing them with you,” he told reporters.
Asked if the public had a right to know a Minister’s finances, he replied: “These are personal details that are personal to me, and I don’t believe they have any right to be in the public domain.”
In relation to the unpaid €1.9 million debt arising from an investment in a nursing home in Co Tipperary, Dr Reilly said he made his position clear in a statement to the Dáil last week.
“This is a legal wrangle over which I have very little control. I have removed myself from anything to do with it in relation to power of attorney which I gave to my solicitor who gave it on to a third party, who is also a solicitor.”
He said that with a 9 per cent minority shareholding in the venture, he was not in a position to dictate how the issue was resolved. It would take the involvement of all parties to resolve the matter.
