• HSE deal equates to €44,000 per bed, while NHS deal is €10,000

• Hospitals owned by Denis O’Brien & Larry Goodman, who have made their fortunes from questionable deals in the past

• Breakdown of costs must be published & hospitals must open their books

Serious questions need to be asked about the €115 million a month deal the government has struck with private hospitals.

This figure, revealed in the Dáil yesterday by the Taoiseach following a question from me, equates to four times the price per hospital bed that the NHS is paying private hospitals in the UK.

I have serious concerns about the high cost of this deal. A number of these private hospitals are owned by Denis O’Brien and Larry Goodman who have made their fortunes from sweetheart deals and cosy relationships with governments in the past. In fact, some of these deals have ended up the subject of costly tribunals. But now we are told to just take them at their word that this is a not-for-profit deal? If it is, why does it seem to be so much more expensive than the deal struck by the NHS with private hospitals in the UK?

The government should publish today the full details of this deal, including a break down of the costs. The private hospitals should open their books, so we can see the real costs, rather than just pay them whatever they say.

Rather than lining the pockets of Denis O’Brien & Larry Goodman, what we really need is to bring these private hospitals permanently into the public system, to build a unified, single-tier National Health Service.