The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, faces an Opposition no-confidence motion when the Dail resumes next week following criticism of his handling of the health services and the resignation of the chief executive of Tallaght Hospital, Dr David McCutcheon.
The Minister yesterday rejected as "predictable" political charges that he was in some way responsible for the resignation.
"I respect his decision and I wish him well in the future. He must be thanked for the work he has done. After April 2nd Dr McCutcheon will no longer be part of the management team, but there is a lot of important work to be done in the meantime", Mr Cowen said.
Opposition parties accused the Minister of contributing to the resignation, claiming Dr McCutcheon was a "fall guy", targeted by Mr Cowen for the failure of himself and his Department to appropriately assess and provide "essential funding".
Labour's spokeswoman on health, Ms Roisin Shortall, said the Minister should now consider his position. Her party would be tabling a motion of no confidence in Mr Cowen when the Dail resumed, she said.
Rejecting Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left claims that he was under-funding Tallaght Hospital, the Minister said a budget of £64.6 million would be provided for the hospital this year, a 20 per cent increase on last year.
Meanwhile, he was "implementing accountability legislation that was sponsored, advocated and passed under the previous administration".
The last government had thought it adequate to spend hundreds of millions of pounds less than this administration in the area of health.
Mr Cowen confirmed that tendering procedures would be concluded this week for consultants to assist the three-strong team appointed by him to oversee the implementation of the recent Deloitte and Touche report on Tallaght Hospital. The lengthy report revealed the hospital was facing a financial crisis and had ineffective management systems.
The new team, yet to be announced, would bring financial and management expertise, as well as a knowledge of public administration systems, to bear on the running of the hospital, the Minister said.
Warmly praising Dr McCutcheon for successfully managing the smooth transfer of the Meath, Adelaide and Harcourt Street Hospitals to Tallaght, Fine Gael's spokesman on health, Mr Alan Shatter, said his decision to move on was regrettable.
Demanding that Tallaght Hospital be put on a sound financial footing, he said the crisis had been exacerbated by the Minister's continued failure in 1999 to provide the funding to ensure that the hospital continued throughout this year.
"In this economic climate, there is no rational explanation for the Minister's failure to fully provide for the financial requirements of Tallaght Hospital and for the needs of its patients", he said.
Describing Dr McCutcheon's resignation as "a grave blow" to the future of the hospital, Ms Shortall said both Mr Cowen and his Department must be held accountable for the decision. Dr McCutcheon had been left with no option but to resign, she added.
Democratic Left's spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, said Mr Cowen should be taken out of the Health portfolio. His dealings with the Tallaght Hospital board and his Department's failure to agree an adequate allocation for 1998 had made Dr McCutcheon's position untenable, she said.