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The Private Hospital Deal Will Be Added to a Long List of Extreme Government Waste

Aontú Leader & Meath-West TD Peadar Tóibín has condemned the continuation of €115m per month being paid in rent to 19 private hospitals which are minimally occupied, when so many other sectors of the Irish economy and Irish society need those funds more.

 

Tóibín: “As farmers’ incomes have been further hit with negligible government support – as recognised by an Taoiseach, as childcare facilities buckle under the economic impact of Covid-19 and the withdrawal of government funding, as hospitals have seen cancer screening postponed, services reduced, and staff denied adequate PPE, it is farcical that the government continues an arrangement whereby €115m per month of taxpayers’ money has been continuously paid to rent private hospitals which have barely anyone in them.”

 

 

“For sure Covid-19 is a crisis and its journey through the country was unknown at the start. But the slow pace of change by the government was startling. The government has shown no signs of attempting to end the deal early despite the hospitals not being required and being grossly overpaid to remain largely unoccupied. This is hitting hard in terms of patients waiting for health care and in the cost to the tax payer of empty private hospital beds.

 

 

“The “Private Hospital Deal” will be added to a long list of extreme government waste, such as the National Children’s Hospital and the National Broadband Plan. Aontú calls on the government to end the deal immediately, and to divert allocated funds to those who most need”.

 

 

 

By Aontú Press | 2 June, 2020



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The Irish political system is radically broken



In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.



Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.



Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.




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