A plan to use a military hospital to help ease the pressure on beds at Dublin's Mater hospital has been given a cautious welcome.
The Army representative group, PDFORRA, and the Irish Nurses' organisation (INO) were both positive today after the idea was refloated by Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea on radio this morning.
Earlier, the INO said the suggestion that 100 empty beds at St Bricin's on Dublin's northside could be used to help alleviate overcrowding in the nearby Mater A&E department.
PDFORRA general secretary Gerry Rooney said that provided soldiers retained their right to access and free medical care at the hospital that he would have no objection.
"Soldiers require ongoing medical attention both at home and overseas and in the best interest of the service and the individual, this medical support must be readily available and of the highest standard," he said,
However he said the organisation would "assess the ongoing efforts to integrate civilian and military services" in a positive light.
Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney claimed today it was her idea to use St Bricin's.
"I actually approached Minister O'Dea a number of weeks ago because I'd had discussions with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, Dermot Early," she said. "It had been examined before and was found to be unsuitable."
Agreement in principle was reached in February 2001 on having Mater patients treated in St Bricin's. Discussions were held between the Mater, the Department of Defence, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Department of Health and Children.
However, a steering group found the hospital to be unsuitable, estimating that it would cost around €7.5 million to upgrade it to cater for A&E patients.
Extensive work has been carried out since to modernise the hospital, which now has four wards, two operating theatres, radiology facilities and laboratory facilities.
The INO said it looked forward to early discussions with health service management to agree appropriate staffing levels and levels of service which, it said it hoped would "be made available, without delay", in St Bricin's.
It also called on the Government to look at more ways to alleviate the A&E crisis across the State.
The Labour Party's health spokeswoman Liz McManus described the move as a "stop gap measure".
"Pressure on space is only part of the problem at the Mater and other hospitals," she said. "A shortage of trained staff forms a major part of the crisis now facing our hospitals."
Ms McManus said the latest National Survey on Nursing Resources shows there are 765 nursing posts vacant within the health service. "With no new nurses qualifying in this country during 2005, the number of vacancies could rise to close to 1,500 by the autumn."