Harney should have acted immediately on HIA advice
Green Party Chairman and health spokesperson, John Gormley TD, accused Mary Harney today of gross negligence and called on her to explain fully why she did not act on the advice given by he HIA to close the loophole which permits the Quinn group to forego risk equalisation payments for the next three years.
“We now know that the HIA alerted May Harney to this loophole before BUPA left the market, yet instead of introducing emergency legislation immediately she stalled until January by which time it was too late. Her failure to act represents a startling dereliction of duty and is reminiscent of Micheal Martin’s behaviour which led to the nursing home charges debacle. Incompetence, resulting in revenue losses to the state, has been the hallmark of this government.
“The Green Party will be raising the issue in the Dáil this week. The question we will ask is how could the Minister, who claims she is favour of community rating, could undermine any chance of risk equalisation by ignoring the experts. This government has shown in he past that it can rush through legislation when it suits them. This is potentially Mary Harney’s most serious crisis to date.”