The North Eastern Health Board (NEHB) has been informed it has funding for capital expenditure this year of about £18 million, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said yesterday.
In a statement, Mr Martin said that a report in The Irish Times on Wednesday was "inaccurate and misleading", adding that it was disingenuous to say the Department had not yet made its annual allocation to the board.
"The NEHB, like all other health boards, have not only been notified of this year's capital funding, but also for the years 2002-2006. This year's figures were notified to the board last February by my Department. It was not true to say that the NEHB had proposals with the Department for the appointment of architects for all five acute hospital sites since January. In fact, no such proposals have yet been received by the Department," Mr Martin said.