Reilly: Acquiring hospital would not be in best interests of health service
Minister for Health James Reilly has defended his decision not to intervene and take over Mount Carmel hospital.
More than 300 staff are set to lose their jobs when the Dublin hospital winds down its operations in the coming weeks.
Minister Reilly said that although it is sad to see a longstanding hospital cease operations, the decision to allow it to close was not one that was taken lightly.
"The Department of Health and the HSE undertook and extensive appraisal of that hospital as to how it might represent value to the health system, and it came very, very clearly down on a decision that it was not in the best interests of the health services to acquire it as a going concern," he said.
