Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The public are entitled to expect and get joined up thinking across government and particularly within the one department. But the Dalriada saga demonstrates that that isn’t even possible within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety because now we know that while preparing for closure they were spending £400,000 on the same premises. I believe the £400,000 was warranted but closure is not.
“How can the Department possibly justify closing the facility on which they have spent so much public money in recent years? I believe that this information is yet another strong argument against the closure of Dalriada Hospital.
“Having previously exposed the fact that there was a Ministerial assurance about the future of the facility we now discover that hundreds of thousands of public money spent in upgrading and maintaining the hospital will have been wasted if the Minister’s decision is permitted to stand.”
Note to editors
Mr Allister’s question and the reply are as follows:
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how much has been spent on upgrading and maintaining Dalriada Hospital in each of the last five years.
The costs for upgrading and maintaining the complete Dalriada Hospital site in each of the last 5 years is set out below.
PERIOD COSTS
2010/11 £29,588.11
2011/12 £20,872.61
2012/13 £308,618.61
2013/14 £28,764.91
2014/15 £12,500
TOTAL £400,344.24