A member of the board of Tallaght Hospital said it was not going out to tender for co-location this week, despite comments to the contrary by Mary Harney last Monday. While both government parties committed to proceeding with the co-location plans in their manifestos published last week, no contracts will be signed before 24 May. All the opposition parties will scrap the co-location plan elected to the next government.

The HSE issued a statement on 19 April approving invitations for tender for a shortlist of bidders for just six hospitals.

The six hospitals are Waterford Regional, Sligo General, Dooradoyle Limerick, St James's, Beaumont and Cork University.

It said the two remaining hospitals, James Connolly Memorial and Tallaght, "remain in continued dialogue with the HSE".

Response In response to Dail questions from Pat Rabbitte a fortnight ago, Bertie Ahern said, "Tenders will be submitted by 17 May, " but he added: "Obviously, the timescale to complete the entire process will take several weeks after the 17 May so the answer is it cannot be concluded in the short term because that could run for some period." The Department of Health and the HSE declined to answer questions from the Tribune on whether any legal documents or contracts will be signed in advance of 24 May. The HSE said its statement of 19 April still stood.

Another delay in the plan to co-locate private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals also emerged during the first week of the election campaign. Tallaght Hospital did not go out to tender for the colocation project last week, despite assertions by the minister for health to the contrary. On RTE's Questions & Answers last Monday, Harney said "Tallaght is coming in next week" during a discussion on the co-location plan.

However, Fergus O'Farrell, a member of the board of Tallaght Hospital, said that "no such proposal had come before the Tallaght board, that it could not go out to tender without board approval and that the next board meeting is not taking place until the end of May".

The controversial plan to co-locate private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals was already delayed before these further delays emerged. In March, Harney and HSE chief Brendan Drumm attended a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, where the HSE insisted that legally binding agreements for the co-location of private hospitals on the grounds of eight public hospitals would be signed on 16 April.

That deadline was not met.