Prendergast slams TDs 'old boys network' in furious hospital row
South Tipperary Oireachtas members have become embroiled in a row as the battle to protect vital services at South Tipperary General Hospital from being lost to Kilkenny intensifies.
Disharmony broke out among the politicians this week as Labour Senator Phil Prendergast called for a unified all-party campaign of confrontation to save hospital services such as maternity and A& E which are under threat in the re-configuration of acute hospital services in the south east.
Senator Prendergast accused TDs Mattie McGrath and Tom Hayes this week of playing politics and of 'operating an old boys network' following what she claims was a deliberate collusion by both of them to prevent her from attending a vital meeting over two weeks ago on the hospital issue with Health Minister Mary Harney.
The Labour Party Seanad spokesperson on Health hit out at what she described as collusion between the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael deputies. She insisted that South Tipperary would be best served by all Oireachtas members and the Save our Hospital Committee working together to maintain services at STGH.
Senator Prendergast said both TDs had colluded to exclude her from the meeting with Mary Harney and such a move was an unprecedented attempt to prevent an Oireachtas member from attending such a meeting.
Senator Prendergast said she was not informed of the meeting by either deputy and when she turned up to attend the meeting after hearing about it at the eleventh hour, Deputy Hayes protested about her presence but that Minister Mansergh insisted that she should attend the meeting.
Responding to the claims of collusion, Deputy McGrath said this week that he was asked to arrange a meeting between hospital consultants and TDs and that the meeting arranged with Mary Harney was a natural follow on of that.
Deputy Hayes said that he was unhappy with 'solo runs ' made on the hospital issue before by Senator Prendergast but that he did not protest at her presence at the meeting which he said had been organised for TDs only.
Both deputies said that a unified approach was needed to ensure the hospital services in Clonmel were not downgraded.
The row between the Oireachtas members broke out this week when Senator Prendergast called for an all party approach to stop some services in Clonmel being subsumed into Kilkenny.
She said the future of the hospital was at stake and that nothing would be achieved by a 'softly softly ' approach now that the hospital services in Clonmel were under such serious threat.
Senator Prendergast, a member of the joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, said that the policy of issuing joint statements by Oireachtas members after such meetings should be abandoned and that an all party campaign of confrontation should be adopted .
"We just cannot sit back and allow the hospital services to be dismantled before our eyes. Deputy Hayes seems to forget that his party is in opposition, just as Deputy McGrath seems to forget, judging from his attention seeking statements, of late , that his party is in government," said the former hospital nurse and midwife.
Senator Prendertgast said she had written to the Minister to ensure that all South Tipperary Oireachtas members were informed of all further meetings on the South Tipp health services.
"Deputies McGrath and Hayes clearly have a difficulty with my efforts to preserve our health services in South Tipperary. Deputy Hayes had previously threatened to exclude me from meetings with the Minister for Health on the subject and he restated this in a furious tone before our most recent meeting over two weeks ago. Both Deputy Hayes and McGrath are fully aware that I have worked in a consistently constructive way to preserve our health services and I was entitled to be at the meeting," she said.
Deputy Hayes said that he was unhappy with Senator Predergast for breaking previous arrangements regarding agreements on such meetings. He said nobody stopped her going to the meeting, he did not protest even though it was a meeting arranged for TDs from South Tipperary with Minister Harney.
He accused Senator Prendergast of doing a 'solo run' in the past on the hospital issue by issuing a statement when an agreement had been reached that a joint statement would be issued by Oireachtas members after a previous meeting with the Minister.
The Fine Gael TD said the meeting was arranged for TDs following a meeting between TDs and consultants at the hospital.
"She has to stick to her word, we all have to work together to ensure that crucial hospital services are not removed from South Tipperary.
Deputy McGrath said that he was contacted by consultants at the hospital and asked to arrange a meeting with TDs.This was done and the meeting with Mary Harney was a follow up to that.
Deputy McGrath said he organised the meeting between TD's and the Health Minister and that he had no objection to her attending when she turned up at the meeting.
The Fianna Fail deputy said that he was working in the best interests of the STGH at all times and he said that the Oireachtas members had to stand together to protect the services at the hospital.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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