@Dave Thomas: Its a business like any other, one with very high running costs. The notion that they could pay all the bills for an open ended lease is nonsense.

@Justin Gillespie: Health care should never be for profit.

@Justin Gillespie: a free first class health service from the the cradle to the grave regardless of anyone personal income. is the most important service in any society that the state can deliver to all its citizens

I’d like to know how much this is costing? Are the private hospitals creaming it? In other countries they haven’t leased the private hospitals they’ve outright nationalised them for the duration.

@Bobby wilson: while I agree with the idea, things are usually free or first class. Rarely both. I am for free health care, free education and against price gouging on housing/rent, etc

@Steve O’Reilly: And if they did it out of good will Steve, who is going to pay their staff? The costs of running a hospital are incredible, so many things you wouldnt even think of factoring in

@Clay Davis: to me personally free first class health service is the most important public service that a state can provide to all its citizens. even more than all the other public services all put together in a democrat society!

@Frank Scanlon: In other countries the private hospitals have been temporarily nationalized. Here they’re being leased. And guess who stands to cash in?

@Mike Osullivan: you should become a surgeon and then you could work for what’s called the living wage, remember no profit allowed.

@The Risen: the usual shit out of this god forsaken hole of a country

@Bobby wilson: and people who try to mind their health and pay for health insurance (very often with scarce funds)? – should they stand in line with people who abuse their health, spend their spare cash on drink, crap food and Cigarettes and never do a day’s work.
I think I know your answer but just asking anyway.

@The Risen: Larry Goodman for one

@Seanboy: a certain billionaire who has done VERY well out of fine gael being in power owns the Beacon.

@ObsidianShine: I’m against private healthcare but while it exists here and the Government want to use the hospitals they have to pay them. I think the terms should be made public so people can see they haven’t exploited the situation.

@Justin Gillespie: oh holy god . So who’s going to pay for the lease. Cop on

@Aidan: Nope. There are provisions in the constitution to suspend property rights for the common good. They could be temporarily nationalised with a REASONABLE compensation paid to shareholders.

@Mike Osullivan: innovation in health care is driven by profit

@Steve O’Reilly: Shock Doctrine. Using a national crisis to transfer public money to the wealthy.

@Mike Osullivan: think you’ll find some of the best and most advanced treatment and research centres are for profit organisations. Profit isn’t a bad thing, it’s not the enemy and all of our hospitals should be run to make a profit. The biggest problem in Ireland is that the majority of hospitals are not run to make a profit and as a result huge sums of money are wasted!

@Steve O’Reilly: give it a rest ffs I work in a private hospital, we’re not all evil!

@DERRY1973: ha ha exactly, I work for one, the idiots commenting on here have absolutely zero idea what all the training and responsibilities that it all entails…no money would pay me to do it!

@The Risen: Pity Sinn Fein weren’t in power they would have put the boot into them and closed them down.

@We Love Katamari: exactly & if he’s a billionaire then pay back the banks the 300 million right off he got!

@Thewestisbest: Maybe leave the comments to the grown ups.

@Larkin About: What value do you put on a single life!! 47 ICU beds, 54 HDU beds, 1000 single patient rooms. All of these are needed during this major emergency we are facing. 47 ICU beds gives us over 10% more than we already have without buying extra equipment or putting more strain on staffing levels. The ICU/HDU facilities will be used to support critically ill people who most likely would die otherwise. The 1000 single rooms will mean that sick people can be isolated safely until test results are back/they recover. Yes it is terrible that we have to lease these beds but would you rather more people die/cross infect. But don’t you worry about lives dude, you concentrate on your political agenda.

@Thomas Sheridan: yes as we are all equal.

@Jun Stone: for you guys that think this lease is for the healthcare, it’s not – the doctors, nurses etc will be public, bit the hospitals will be getting their daily bed rate for each “unit”. They should have nationised then and covered costs directly. Instead, they are covering the beacon, whitfield and the nuns loan book. The dysfunctional relationship with private health carries on, even in a crisis.

@Thomas Sheridan: I agree with you their is a section of the population that don’t look after its health .that comes down poor education choices people make in their lives. as I said its more important to me than housing and any others public services that the state provides I live in Belfast and we have free health service from the cradle to the grave! Maybe not first class but its free for all it’s citizens. I don’t have to paid 50 euros for doctors visit!

@Justin Gillespie: Tell that to James O Riley former minister for health… He certainly did very well from public/ private practice..How soon people forget the little scandals that surrounded him when he was the minister.

@Brynþór Patrekursson: “Nationalisation” is not a get out of jail card. You can’t just take someone’s business/property/home etc and simply say “thanks, you’re nationalised”. You have to compensate them in full for their business. This seems a very reasonable alternative. Lease the rooms for the duration and pay a fee. And it is immediate, gets the private hospitals fully on board and allows for a seamless link between public and private.

Can we give the ideology a temporary rest please and prioritise using both public and private services to save lives? We live in a mixed economy made up of public and mostly private spheres. And that mix allows us enormous flexibility if utilised properly.

@Lucille Ball: Feel free to leave!

@Bobby wilson: only peeps on the Scratcher get that!

@steovani: I am lost with your question!

@Jun Stone: I’ve no issue with them using the hospitals and the state paying the employees wage for the duration. But there’s certainly no need for the private sector to be charging additional fees to the Government (tax payers) for use of the facilities during this time. Governments in other countries didn’t give the private hospitals this option.

@Thewestisbest: yes and thereby increase the number of people on waiting lists and trolleys threefold. Remember people who pay for private insurance are treated in private hospitals mostly. Very often people struggle to pay the health insurance aswell as making their contribution to PRSI USC etc.

@Thomas Sheridan: bang on!

@Steve O’Reilly: They are doing it on a no profit basis. That was announced a few days ago.

@The Risen: what are they?

@ObsidianShine: You still have to pay the staff and other running costs – it’s going to cost one way or another.

@Dave Thomas:
They were’nt called private hospitals 100 years ago. They were run by religious sisters to cater for people too poor to be treated at home. Public hospitals as now known did’nt exist.

@Peter taylor: whole I agree with what you said, what about those people that have paid health insurance and they need beds now too , there is a shortage there to on them , why would you ever want to pay insurance again if your not getting what you paid for, I do understand this is mental times but they have spend this money on the health while others think they just have an automatic right to them

@John R: you actually can what are they gonna do in the end ? Round up an army and storm the country ?

@ObsidianShine: where??

@The Risen: again Where?

@james dimaggio: Private rooms in Blackrock & Mater Private só Ryan will be fine.

@Badger the witness: when you’re buying a steak, do you insist on looking up the cow’s arse too?

@Badger the witness: Leo left wing?! You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.

@John: I know, just a reference to taking over private hospitals for public use.

@Keith Synnott: No matter what was in charger they would have to follow what experts say

@Darragh Hurley: you’ve been following what’s happening in the UK and the US then ya?

@Towger: Ah me aul Uncle D . Exactly ..

@Justin Gillespie: Didn’t say that at all but going by Leo’s speech the other day yad swear the government took over running the private hospital sector. Not negotiating a price with them. And I sincerely doubt they are getting them at cost price.

@Justin Gillespie: It’s a populist comment that will attract thumbs from like-minded dimwits. To him it’s worth the flack he’s gonna get.

@Tommy Roche: Thanks . Instead of debating my point you turn to personal insults. Appreciate it.

@Darragh O Brien: Will you have any problem taking a COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment from the Government and putting it your own back pocket?

@John fitzpatrick: and thanks for the personal insults instead of trying to debate the point. I made a remark and instead of trying to debate it you all just personally attack me. Grow up lads and let’s argue and debate like grownups instead of name calling like children

@Darragh O Brien: All ears for your alternative solutions and ideas. They would be better served rather than begrudgery at this time. Businesspeople are entitled to operate profitable businesses you know, the fact that some of these might be private hospitals is because there is a demand for such facilities in this country. The fact that they are making their facilities available to the government and will be paid in turn is completely understandable. If you owned your own business and the government suddenly insisted that all your goods/services had to be provided to them for a period of time would you do it for free and incur all the costs yourself? I doubt it and it certainly wouldn’t make financial or business sense and would be ignoring your directoral responsibilities to the business

@Darragh O Brien: want to know who owns some of them?

Nuns, not kidding. Look it up.
So many private hospitals are owned by catholic organisations and nuns.

@Tim Tom: thanks for reply. Yep few good points you are correct on but isn’t been drilled into us that all this is for the greater good of the country so you still believe companies should make profits off keeping people alive in a pandemic?

@Barry: Yep, religious orders, Denis O’Brien, and, Larry Goodman.

@Darragh O Brien:
You made a very childish remark, accusing the government of corruption because they paid for a service. There was no valid point to debate with you. You just made a baseless accusation. Perhaps it’s you who needs to grow up.

Maybe if you post something grown up in the future, people might debate it like grown ups with you.

@Barry: yeah I looked it up before I made the point. I’d assume they won’t be paid since religious organisations still owe the state €237 million…..

@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: I didn’t personally insult people who i have a difference of opinion with . So no need for me to do any growing up thanks

@Darragh O Brien: Company directors have a regulatory responsibility to act in the interests of their company and its stakeholders. If you suspect that there is inflated costs being agreed then you would be best to provide proof of this or leave it to the relevant bodies to follow up on. We can only take the arrangements on face value and trust that our government have secured an acceptable agreement. In the end of the day thses private facilities are offering a ready to go solution to an urgent requirement. The fact that we dont have a fully funded national health service such as the NHS is for another days debate, we have to make the best out of the resources at hand to combat this crisis. I feel the government are doing a relatively good job on that so far.

@Tim Tom: I agree they are doing a good job but this “in the government we trust ” thing has time and time again being proved to be a wasted opinion. I sincerely hope no one is profiteering from a pandemic and maybe this one time we can trust . By all means I hope big business is putting the needs of the country ahead of the needs of it’s shareholders.

@John fitzpatrick: In fairness the whole thing smacks a bit sour in these times. Assumed the private hospital were jumping in on the National interest. But instead the fee is likely coming from all our pockets and will be paid through higher taxes at some point down the line.

@Justin Gillespie: They should have nationalised them.

@Donal Desmond: They should have just “nationalised” them! Do you think nationalisation does not involve full compensation? You can’t seize someone’s business. It’s unconstitutional and is also contrary to EU law. This is a far better option. Pay a fee, have full use of the service and get full and seamless cooperation with private hospitals avoiding High Court injunctions and challenges. It’s also less costly than nationalisation where the State would have to pay for the full capital costs and future profits. When all of this is over we can consider what we wish to do with our health service. For now let’s get on with dealing with the crisis. Nationalisation is not the solution to everything.

@Justin Gillespie: compulsory order without purchase to be relaxed after the pandemic has passed. Naw would never work

@Justin Gillespie: other countries changed the law and took over the private hospitals for the duration . But our fellas have to rent them

@Justin Gillespie: are you seriously saying it’s OK for the private hospitals to grab multi millions of taxpayers money in profit just to allow the HSE emergency use of their beds during a lethal pandemic.

@Toon Army: Yes, we should close down Pfizer, Glaxo and the rest of the for profit pharmaceutical money grabbers. The cheek of them investing billions in developing newer life saving and life enhancing drugs every day. Then expecting us to pay them for the fruits of their I’ll gotten gains. All this should be done by the state and we shouldn’t have to pay for it. I think JP McManus, Denis O’Brien and Dermot Desmond should be made to finance the running of the state. They have plenty of money. If that doesn’t raise enough just increase taxes on everyone that earns more than me.

@Toon Army: Lets not wish our country or society resembles that of China. We aspire to so much more!

@Toon Army: And the fact that you long for a Chinese totalitarian approach in Ireland speaks volumes. By the way, China has 1,400,000,000 people, Ireland has 5,000,000. So they have 280 times our population. Scale can achieve things that are otherwise impossible. So can a gun pointed at someone’s head which is exactly what would happen in China if they didn’t follow orders. I prefer democracy, warts and all.

@Dave Nomates: If jobs are a by-product of entrepreneurial greed then without that greed you wouldn’t have the jobs.
How else would you create real and sustainable employment?

@chihuahua: We are among the highest spenders per capita in the world when it comes to public health yet that is not reflected in the quality of services provided.
Private healthcare is not responsible for the really poor management of the public system.

@Will: by having lots of smaller business than a handful of big ones

@Will: I’m all in favour of entrepreneurs but not at the detriment of public welfare. Some are obsessed with money and power, let them but it shouldn’t be forced on those that aren’t through vital services. There’s a fundamental issue when profits are all that matter regardless of who it impacts. That’s my belief anyway and I’m fully aware it’s not how this world works.

@Spartacus Ireland: yeah..in the US.So be grateful that you live in Ireland and will get treated private insurance or not.

@Spartacus Ireland: I think we should have them. Let’s buy them, enhance the health service and pay for it by jacking up taxes.

@Spartacus Ireland: Why are you citing the US private health system to illustrate what we should do in Ireland? If that poor young man was living in Ireland or anywhere else in the civilised world he would be alive today.

@John R: Read the story guys, he was treated….at the hospital he could afford…the public one…this is where two-tier systems can bring us if we let it

@Spartacus Ireland: We won’t let it

@Mia Ryan: No apparently all of us who work for private hospitals are the cause of the hse not being able to cope with their a&e departments being full of people who don’t need accident or emergency care. And the 40% of the population that have health insurance and use our facilities in their millions every year, thus reducing the workload of the hse are also to blame

@Mia Ryan: No apparently all of us who work for private hospitals are the cause of the hse not being able to cope with their a&e departments being full of people who don’t need accident or emergency care. And the 40% of the population that have health insurance and use our facilities in their millions every year, thus reducing the workload of the hse are also to blame

@Mia Ryan: I’m a public sector ICU nurse and believe me you do count Mia, hopefully you and your colleagues will ease the burden on my colleagues. The begrudging, whinging miscreants on here spouting what can only be described as horse dung will see the true value of your services once the surge occurs. Publics hospitals will be full, ventilators will be in short supply and the poor unfortunate souls critically ill will be thankful of the extra capacity provided by private hospitals. Who knows these nincompoops might actually end up in one of the beds, what a bitter pill that would be to swallow.

@Denis Ryan: comparing somones home or house as you call it to a hospital during a pandemic says everything about your logic. Then you compare it to SF for some throw away after thought. Please dont reproduce the thoughts of more of you going around is not worth contemplating.

@Niall Binéad: No Niall never voted for FG and never will. I’m a big believer in the common good. The word in the headline is leased and should 100% be not for profit but the slippery slope of what is yours is now ours can never be ignored.