Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has accused this government of penny pinching in a time of huge budget surplus and effectively forcing the voluntary hospitals to work with one hand tied behind their back.

Teachta Crowe’s comments came as voluntary hospitals such as Tallaght University Hospital, St James’s, and the Mater have warned that new spending restrictions imposed by the HSE mean they may be forced to choose between paying staff, suppliers or the Revenue Commissioners.

Teachta Crowe said:

“This government have told voluntary hospitals like Tallaght University Hospital, St James’s, and the Mater that there are new spending limits for November and December. What this means is that their funding has been stopped for the last two months of the year.

“To make things worse, these new limits were set based on 2023 figures on costs, workforce and demand for services. They’re completely out of date and represent nothing more than miserly penny pinching in a time when the government are bragging about huge budget surpluses. First we had the recruitment embargo and now we have cutbacks in spending.

“This government is forcing the voluntary hospitals to work with one hand tied behind their back. No hospital should be forced to choose between paying staff, suppliers or the Revenue Commissioners. It is not how a health service should be run, and it is certainly not in the best interests of the sick or vulnerable who need care in Tallaght Hospital.

“Sinn Féin has the plan, vision, and determination to transform our health service. We are a prosperous nation, and we should have a first-class public health system where people have access to health and social care when they need it. The failures of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil should not lead us to believe that this is not possible.”