The Minister for Health and the board of the new Tallaght Hospital are to resume discussions today on how to tackle the financial crisis facing the institution.
After lengthy discussions between Mr Cowen, the board chairwoman, Ms Rosemary French, and other board representatives yesterday, the Department of Health issued a joint statement saying both sides accepted the findings of the Deloitte & Touche report and were agreed that it was necessary to implement its recommendations "as quickly as possible".
Today's meeting has been called to allow the board to convey to Mr Cowen its decisions "on the matter addressed". The Minister is insisting that a team of his choosing be installed to oversee the implementation of the proposals in the highly critical report.
Published on Tuesday, it showed the hospital was facing a financial emergency, had an ineffectual management system, and must in future run within agreed costs before any further developments could be approved. After its discussions with the Minister, the board returned to Tallaght Hospital for a further meeting but no comment was made afterwards.