Hospitals 'may run out of money by October'
A consultant at the Mater Hospital in Dublin has suggested that hospitals in the city and other parts of the country could run out of money by October.
It comes as efforts are being made to resolve a split between the Government parties over proposed cuts to the health budget, with suggestions by some TDs that the rift could spark an early election.
The Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin met with the Health Minister James Reilly over the weekend in an effort to clear up the row, which centres on €130m worth of cuts announced earlier this week.
Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, Micheal O'Keeffe, has said it is not clear where these cuts can be made.
He also said there are strong rumours that hospitals in the capital may be out of cash before the year is out.
Mr O'Keeffe said: "We don't know where these cutbacks are going to happen, where they are going to come, what the deficit is and what it means.
"There is a rumour, and I think it is more than a rumour, that a lot of hospitals in Dublin and elsewhere will run out of money by October and there is even a rumour that at that stage they will not even be able to pay the wages of the staff.
"This has a lot to run yet and if that is true, the crisis will be many times what it is now."
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