Halligan: Sure why wouldn’t Enda meet me on hospital crisis ... I am a minister!
Malcontent minister threatens to drag Kenny into row over local hospital
ENDA KENNY could be dragged into the furore over Waterford hospital following John Halligan’s warning that he might seek mediation by the Taoiseach.
‘If Noonan and Coveney don’t stand up to the plate and deliver what they promised me, I may have to meet Enda and see can he do something,’ Mr Halligan told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
Health Minister Simon Harris this week issued what sources called ‘an emphatic statement’, saying the issue was closed, and the Taoiseach said that ministers must focus on the forthcoming Budget.
But Mr Halligan warned that if the issue wasn’t resolved, ‘I am going to seek a meeting with Enda. Sure why wouldn’t he meet me? I am a minister.’ Mr Halligan plans to organise a
‘I will stand my ground with Fine Gael’
meeting of all TDs and senators – including Government representatives – from the southeast region to advance his proposals.
He said: ‘TDs are under serious pressure. All hell has broken out here. The anger is unprecedented.’
Mr Halligan has, for now, reserved his position until Waterford hospital issues a statement on Monday.
However, he told the MoS: ‘I have been honourable in my dealings. While I do not wish to destabilise the Government, I will stand my ground with Fine Gael.
‘Surely, even in Fine Gael, someone can see common sense?
‘I don’t want to bring the Government down but if they want to remove me from Government, let them do it,’ Mr Halligan said.
He warned that it might take a meeting ‘with Enda – I get on with him’, to resolve the crisis.
He also said that if he resigned or was forced out of office: ‘Will I vote for the Government on everything? Absolutely not.’
The Independent Alliance minister also accused Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin of hypocrisy for being ‘willing to stand outside Waterford hospital with a “save the hospital” placard but changes his tune in the Dáil’.
Meanwhile, the Independent Alliance intends to use the Halligan debacle as justification for getting additional State funding to create a more cohesive party structure.
Tensions have been escalating between it and Fine Gael over the slow progress of the Programme for Government deal to provide it with an estimated €300,000-€600,000 in State funding. This is being hampered by the status of the Alliance as a party ‘which is not a party’.
A senior source said: ‘There needs to be co-ordination of staff. Had we got that, the whole Halligan mess might have been a voided.’ Another source added that Fine Gael ‘is not going to turn us into Renua Nua. Money is the sinews of war and there is a disparity. How can we compete with Fine Gael in putting forward a national vision?’