MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said "there is not a red cent in the exchequer" to pay for the proposed new regional hospital in Navan, provoking bitter reactions from opposition politicians in the northeast.
He was responding to news that consultants have recommended to the HSE that Navan rather than Drogheda would be the preferred site for the new regional hospital.
It had been anticipated that a site in Co Louth, where the Minister is a TD, in particular Ardee or Drogheda, would be selected.
The report by consultancy firm Health Partnership will be considered by the board of the HSE and the Cabinet before the project can move to the next stage.
Speaking on the Michael Reade programme on local radio station LMFM yesterday, Mr Ahern said he did not believe there was any likelihood of the hospital being built "in the foreseeable future".
"This is a report which will be . . . for some time on some shelf because there isn't a red cent in the exchequer for this new hospital and that's the reality," he said.
"I have said this over the last while to [chief executive of the HSE Prof] Brendan Drumm and [ other] people," he said, adding, "in effect there is no money for it, nor is there any likelihood of money for it in the foreseeable future, particularly in the context of the economic situation and the exchequer situation".
The location chosen for the hospital is in the Meath constituency of Mr Ahern's Cabinet colleague, Noel Dempsey. Mr Dempsey could not be contacted for comment.
But Mr Ahern's remarks drew a heated response from other TDs in the region with Meath deputy Shane McEntee (FG) saying: "I was taken aback at the comment of Minister Dermot Ahern that there is no money to develop the hospital. His comment was a real slap in the face for the people of the northeast and to me sounds like sour grapes on his part."
The Minister's comments were called "a complete bombshell", and "bigger than Bertie's resignation", by Louth TD Arthur Morgan (SF).
The decision to choose Navan over Drogheda was described as flawed by Louth Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd.
He said he believed the decision-making process "did not give any weighting to staff in its determination. When they put Navan and Drogheda up against each other, the value given to 1,500 people who work in the hospital was significantly reduced".
Speaking in Cork last night, Prof Drumm said he hadn't yet seen the report recommending Navan as he was out of Dublin.
"Ifact the only firm information I have is what I've heard on the radio so if that's the case, "not a red cent", well how many hospitals in Ireland have ever been proposed [ for] which there has been money up front?
"The more important thing is that we have to do something about the situation in the northeast which has bedevilled Irish healthcare for 40 years where we're providing care over five sites totally inappropriately, where there's a significant risk in doing that," he said.
"The people of the northeast deserve a better service," he added.