This article is from page 10 of the 2006-08-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A LONG-SERVING Clare politician has said his position in relation to the upgrading of the hospital will be vindicated.
West Clare senator Brendan Daly (FF) was responding to claims that his candidacy “must now be in question”, following revelations that the upgrading of the hospital would need a substantial financial injection if it were to succeed.
Making the claims, chairman of the Hospital Development Committee, Peadar McNamara, pointed out that the senator had said he would not run in the election unless he was assured of investment in the ailing hospital.
“What value have these assurances now?” he asked.
Last week, The Clare People revealed that the design for the upgrade of the hospital had been delayed as the HSE and the Department of Health debated who would pick up the tab for the estimated €16 million shortfall.
The Department of Health has allocated €20.8m to the project, but it has since emerged that this will not cover equipment or the extra staff required as a result of the upgrade.
The design for the first phase of the hospital redevelopment has been with the financial director of the HSE in Naas for almost two months.
But Senator Daly remains adamant that the hospital will be upgraded and the work will begin before the election.
He said that to avoid “unnecessary delays and complications later, it is far better to get these matters resolved now.”
The senator said he had been further assured by the Minister for Finance that “the issues that are being dealt with now are in the long-term interest of the development.”
“If I wasn’t convinced by the assurances from the Minister, I definitely wouldn’t be a candidate.
“I would like to assure the action committee that the discussions that are ongoing at the moment are best for the hospital.”
But Mr McNamara maintains that “it is a clear prospect come the next General Election that no building will have started and the independent review (on hospital services) will not have reported and no decision made on its recommendation.”
The lobby committee chair said he would be asking all candidates and parties to state clearly their plans for the future of the hospital.
“We will convey this to the people of Clare. At this point in time, we are not running a candidate,” he said.