Espersen apologises for parliamentary answer

Danish Conservative Party Leader and Foreign Minister, Lene Espersen, has apologised for giving an incomplete answer to a parliamentary question about overpayments to private hospitals. In a letter to the Parliamentary Presidium, Espersen acknowledged that she failed to fully answer the Parliamentary Ministerial Question put to her by Jonas Dahl of SocPeople in 2009.

In her initial response, the minister said that proposals to reduce rates by 25 percent stemmed from her Conservative parliamentary group and not her own ministry. Espersen in now admitting, however, that the data did in fact originate from the Health Ministry.

“The fact that my answer was not precise or full stems from the fact that received information from the health minister at the time, who, being a member of the Conservative parliamentary group took part in the (Conservative) party’s health initiative, and through government deliberations, had, among other things, information on rates for private hospitals that came from the Health Ministry,” she said in her letter. “That is something I naturally should have said, and I deeply regret not having done so,” Espersen added.

The letter was produced as the Parliamentary Presidium prepared to discuss the controversial issue on Monday, October 4.