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FF in disarray on costs of tax concessions for private clinics

Issued : Tuesday 22 May, 2007

Fianna Fail is now in disarray following the admission by the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, that it will cost the taxpayer almost half a billion Euro in tax incentives for wealthy private developers to implement the government’s plan for collocation of super-private clinics on public hospital lands.

It is a public scandal to hand over half a billion (€70m X seven years = €490m) of taxpayers money to developers as well as ceding scarce public land needed for public hospitals.

In addition to this huge tax bill the public hospital system will also lose of income of up to €145m per annum – and possible as much as €200m per annum – as they will not longer benefit from payments now made by Private Health Insurance Companies.

It is now over two years since Mary Harney issued her directive to the HSE to proceed with the co-location plan. Two years on not a single block has been laid for any of the proposed new buildings and not a single bed is in sight.

It is very clear that this ideologically motivated plan was never thought through at all. Brian Cowen gave a very definite answer last night on Questions and Answers when I challenged him of the cost of these tax concessions. Senior Fianna Fail ministers were unable to give adequate answers when challenged on the issue at the party’s press conference this morning and had to call in an advisor in an attempt to beat a retreat and ‘to explain’ it. Who is the real Minister for Finance? Brian Cowen or Colin Hunt?


This controversy has now brought into stark relief the choices facing voters on Thursday. It is a choice between gifting huge amounts of taxpayers money to wealthy developers for the construction of super private clinics as planned by Fianna Fail on the further development of the public health system through the delivery of 2,300 additional beds as promised by Labour and the Alliance for Change.