Tallaght Hospital is to take out a long-term bank loan to cover its projected £8.5 million revenue deficit for 1998, under the terms of an agreement negotiated with the Minister for Health and Children.
The hospital has identified "income-generating measures" to fund the loan, and has given an assurance that the arrangement will have no effect on the provision of patient services.
A spokeswoman said rents from the hospital shop and carpark were one source of income available to support the arrangement. The loan will not be funded from the 1999 revenue determination, to be issued by the Department next week, or the determination for subsequent years, the hospital said.
A joint statement after a two-hour meeting yesterday between Mr Cowen and hospital representatives said they had agreed in principle on a mechanism to oversee the implementation of the Deloitte & Touche report. It is understood the Minister will appoint two of a three-member team of experts to assist the hospital board in implementing the recommendations, with the hospital choosing the third.
In the joint statement, Mr Cowen and the hospital chairman, Mrs Rosemary French, expressed satisfaction with the agreement, reached after two days of meetings. They said it would enable "the planned, phased development of the hospital services to be resumed".
The Deloitte & Touche study revealed that the hospital would run out of funds if serious cost overruns, including £550,000 a month on the payroll, were not tackled.
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