Rabbitte says political will lacking over hospital beds

Labour briefing: Labour leader Pat Rabbitte yesterday accused the Government of lacking the political will to deliver on hospital beds and, evoking the spirit of the late Noel Browne, pledged that Labour and Fine Gael would introduce some 2,300 new public beds within seven years.

Mr Rabbitte said that the capital costs of the new public beds would be included in the National Development Plan, while some €640 million would be set aside annually to cover the running costs of the additional 2,300 public beds. "There's no avoiding the capacity issue. We have to address it and it's Labour and Fine Gael's intention to address it within the public service and our commitment is to do so within seven years . . ."

Mr Rabbitte said that there was no lack of data about the need for the additional hospital beds, but what was missing was clear political will, as evidenced by the Government's abandonment of its promise to introduce 3,000 new public beds into the system.

He said the actual roll-out of the new beds and where they would be located would follow discussions with the HSE, but that Labour was determined not to allow public land adjoining public hospitals to be sold for private clinics.

Speaking in Cobh, where he was canvassing with local Cork East candidate Cllr John Mulvihill, Mr Rabbitte said there was no reason why Labour and Fine Gael could not deliver on 2,300 hospital beds, as Noel Browne had done when he was minister for health.

Mr Rabbitte said that Mr Browne halved the tuberculosis death rate when he introduced more than 2,000 hospital beds for sufferers between 1948 and 1953. "If Browne can do it, why cannot we do it?" said Mr Rabbitte.