In a pre-election whistle-stop walk-about of Kilkenny City, Taoiseach Brian Cowen told the Kilkenny Advertiser that St Luke’s Hospital A+E in Kilkenny has been lauded as a model of best practise for other hospitals around the country.
When questioned on recent reports suggesting that the hospital A+E and maternity wings were to be downgraded, Mr Cowen said, “I haven’t seen the detail of the report you are talking about but I believe that St Luke’s will have a big role to play in A+E into the future. There has been a lot of resources put into St Luke’s to date and a lot of work is going on there at the moment. This is my view on the suggestion that it is be downgraded. I think St Luke’s will continue to play an important part of the health services in Kilkenny into the future.”
While out canvassing in Kilkenny on Tuesday, Mr Cowen admitted that it wasn’t plain sailing for himself or the government candidates in the run-up to the local elections which take place today.
“People have issues and we are not the most popular party because of some of the decisions we have had to take to right the economy. But it is better to meet people and tell them what is going on.”
He disregarded suggestions that he hadn’t kept the public up to date on the state of the economy to date.
“I am making representations all the time. It is sometimes down to scheduling and simply getting around. But I am keeping people informed,” he said.
“ I recognise that people have concerns - there has been a sharp change in the economy. I believe that the Fianna Fail party policies are the right ones and the opposition have come up with nothing more workable. They are not providing an alternative and are ignoring the advice of the European Central Bank.”
Of the cuts to the elderly including medical cards and Christmas bonuses, Mr Cowen said, “the government has a job to do. In good times we doubled the State pension for older people and we looked after the elderly. These resources are not available this year. We are borrowing €25 billion just to keep our economy on track.”
Speaking about the local elections, Mr Cowen was hopeful that Fianna Fail would not experience a wash-out of candidates in Carlow Kilkenny.
“I think we will do better than expected. The candidates’ records of achievement should go towards securing them their seats. People should not confuse local and national politics in local elections. People should also bear in mind that if people have a problem with the local authority, that it has been run by a Fine Gael and Labour majority for several years.
Finally in relation to his axing of Kilkenny’s popular junior minister for state at the department of enterprise John McGuinness, Mr Cowen said that he simply had to reduce the number of ministers.
“These job losses bore no reflection on the ability and competence of the ministers involved. It was in the best interest of the party,” he said.
When asked whether the outspoken deputy had been axed as a result of not toeing the party line, Mr Cowen said, “ he lost his junior ministry after a series of considerations.”
