Plans by the Department of Health to buy private medical treatments in Ireland or abroad for patients left on public waiting lists have not yet started, despite claims to the contrary yesterday by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
Speaking after the launch of the Fianna Fáil general election manifesto, Mr Ahern said operations were being purchased "not alone" under the National Treatment Purchase Scheme but also under an earlier programme.However, the €30m scheme, headed by management consultant, Ms Maureen Lynott, is still in negotiations with the country's health boards to identify public patients who might qualify.
"They are optimistic that people will start to be treated soon, but no-one has been treated yet," said a Department of Health spokesperson, who added that the Lynott-headed team met again on the issue yesterday.
In an RTÉ Radio 1 One O'Clock News interview, Mr Ahern was pressed to clarify whether he was saying that patients had already been removed from the public waiting lists under the scheme.
He replied: "The scheme is up and running. I don't know how many people. The resources for that scheme are there. I know that already in the private sector hospitals they are taking people off the waiting lists."
Asked again to clarify if he was saying the scheme is operational, he went on: "Not alone under this scheme, but using the private hospitals to actually take people off the waiting lists wasn't a totally new idea."
