Offaly Hospice Foundation keen to resolve HSE repayment issue

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Offaly Hospice Foundation has said it is keen to resolve an ongoing issue with the Health Service Executive (HSE) over repayment of fees spent on planning for the Midlands Hospice.

The issue stems from expenditure by the charity on plans for the original proposed site at Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore, which had been offered to Offaly Hospice by the HSE for planning and development.

The initial planning work carried out by Offaly Hospice was deemed feasible and acceptable by the HSE at a meeting on October 15, 2021, the charity’s chairman Prof. Humphrey O’Connor has said.

Offaly Hospice spent over €304,000 on the site, with funds raised entirely by the community rather than through state resources.

The offer of repayment of the expenditure has been marked by persistent engagement between Offaly Hospice and the HSE over the course of more than a year.

The offer to Offaly Hospice by the HSE to repay the fees expended on the hospital site was made originally at a meeting of HSE managers and the Board of Offaly Hospice on April 19, 2023, and confirmed in subsequent emails, Prof. O’Connor said.

“The site offered by the HSE to Offaly Hospice to plan and build a hospice is exactly what those funds were intended for,” he added.

Meetings and correspondence between the parties continued throughout the latter end of 2024, including correspondence from the HSE on December 24, 2024, confirming intentions to repay a sum of money, which was less than a third of the costs spent by Offaly Hospice, Prof. O’Connor said.

Additional discussions took place at a meeting on March 13, 2025, followed by emails from Offaly Hospice to the HSE in June 2025, November 2025, on January 7, 2026.

The HSE subsequently sent correspondence to Offaly Hospice on January 15, 2026.

This followed a discussion at Offaly County Council, reported in this paper, at which Cllr Fergus McDonnell stated that people in the community had been "left seriously hurt" after donating "monumental amounts of money throughout the years".

Prof. O'Connor said the amount offered to Offaly Hospice by the HSE was "nowhere near what we have paid out".

He added: "We are keen to settle this issue and recover the full sum spent in good faith on the hospital site.”

Prof. O'Connor also highlighted the vital role local volunteers and donors have played in raising funds for the hospice project.

“We are very conscious that this money comes from donations by our volunteers and supporters, who greatly value the work we do for palliative care.

“We have great respect for their generosity in supporting Offaly Hospice for more than 30 years,” he said.

Prof. O’Connor emphasised that Offaly Hospice’s initiative on the hospital site was effectively the driving forc and kickstarted the hospice project.

The issue has been complicated by changes to the proposed location for the hospice, for which planning permission was granted by Offaly County Council for a site at Arden Lane, Tullamore, recently.

“The Arden Lane site, on which the hospice is due to be built, was apparently made known to the HSE in early 2023,” he said, adding that despite continued high-level contact in relation to the hospital site, "the HSE opted not to inform Offaly Hospice of the Arden Lane site until the end of August that year".

In a statement, the HSE said it remained “open and committed to constructive engagement” with Offaly Hospice.

Prof. O’Connor said the foundation’s priority remains securing a resolution.

“We're keen to settle this issue and ensure that the money raised by our donors is used properly for the purpose it was intended, to provide vital palliative care services in the Midlands.”

Offaly Hospice Foundation and the HSE are due to meet again in the coming weeks.