The Minister for Health, Mr Micheál Martin, has dismissed suggestions that the health service is in crisis.
Mr Martin was speaking in the Dáil following yesterday's announcement of 250 bed closures at Dublin's five main teaching hospitals.
The Minister claimed that during his tenure in office he had secured record funding for the service.
"I have heard theword crisis used about the health service for the last five or six years - usedwith gay abandon," he added.
Mr Martin was accused by Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus of being "incapable and incompetent" and suffering from amnesia.She said the closure of beds in the teaching hospitals would impact on the "fabric of the (health) service".
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, defended Mr Martin but conceded there were difficulties within the health service."The Minister for Health is doing his best, and of course, he has my confidencein that regard," he said.
Meanwhile, officials from the Department of Health are to meet with the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) later this afternoon to discuss planned bed closures and staff cuts at the Dublin hospitals.
A spokeswoman for the Department denied the meeting had been called in response to yesterday's announcement of bed closures. She told ireland.comthe Department regularly meets ERHA officials to discuss the situation at the hospitals and elsewhere in the region.However, she admitted the planned cuts would be top of the agenda.
The ERHA said yesterday it had sufficient funds available this year "to buy acute hospital services at the same level as planned last year."
It said it was spending a total of €872 million buying services from the Dublin Academic Teaching Hospitals (St James, Tallaght, St Vincent's University, the Mater and Beaumont) this year.
"The current financial situation, where less additional money is available in 2003 must be seen in the context of an unprecedented level of investment in hospitals in the east over the last three years which allowed for the treatment of thousands more people than planned and the introduction and development of services and specialties across the board," it said.
