Minister for Health Mary Harney has said she has not discussed her future as a Cabinet minister with the Taoiseach, following the decision of the Progressive Democrats to disband.
Speaking this afternoon in Cork, Mary Harney said she loved the job of health minister and she would like to continue in that position for ‘as long as possible’.
However, she added that she became Minister for Health as a member of the Progressive Democrats; soon she would be an Independent member of the Dáil and that was a different political scenario.
Ms Harney said how long she continues in her current position would be a matter for the Taoiseach and not a matter entirely for herself.
She said she had not spoken to the Taoiseach about her future because she felt it would have been improper and dishonourable to do so ahead of Saturday's meeting of the Progressive Democrats, where the decision was taken to disband the party.
Ms Harney refused to speculate on whether she would be health minister until the next general election, although she did say that for as long as she could, she would be giving all her time to the Department of Health and to meeting the current economic challenges.
Ms Harney also said the view that she was the only person who could do the job of health minister or that nobody wanted it was inaccurate.
She said she had no greater entitlement to be minister for health than any other member of the Government parties and she respected and understood that.
Ms Harney also said her decision to postpone the roll-out of the cervical cancer vaccination programme was final, adding that she just did not have the money to do so.
Yesterday, Minister of State John McGuinness said that he does not expect Mary Harney to leave her job as Health Minister in the relatively near future.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week In Politics last night, he said there was confidence across all Government departments in the work she was doing to reform the health service.
'It would be foolhardy to change just now for the sake of change,' he said. `
'There is an agenda that is not completed, there is a reform package that is not completed, and she is committed to completing it and let's work with her. This type of discussion undermines the progress she is attempting to make.'
Asked if he would take on the job of health minister himself he said: 'I would have no difficulty taking up the job, knowing full well that there are huge challenges there, and that there are those vested interests there.
'Mary Harney has made a significant difference and what she has achieved will not be felt for some years to come.'
But Mr McGuinness admitted there was some doubt about funding for the Government's hospital co-location plan.
'It is a runner to an extent,' he said. 'There are some issues around it in relation to funding and banks and so on.
'There is a doubt about their (the proposed hospitals) funding in the context of the banks and the guarantees that they received, which have to be ironed out and that, I think, is an ongoing issue.'
Labour's Roisin Shortall said it was 'incredible' that there was uncertainty surrounding the plans.
'Co-location was the main plank of the Government's health policy going into the last election, and since then.
'Now we are in a position where a Government minister is saying we don't know whether we are going to go ahead with that policy or not.'
However, Mr McGuinness insisted he was not saying this.
