Committee of Public Accounts to examine 2020 Appropriation Accounts for Department of Health and the 2020 Financial Statements of HSE

The meeting at 9.30am in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House will be joined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, and will hear from officials from the Department of Health, led by the Secretary General, Robert Watt, and representatives of the HSE led by the CEO, Paul Reid. Mr Watt and Mr Reid are the accounting officers for their respective organisations. 

The afternoon session, beginning at 1.30pm, will consider correspondence and other business of the Committee.

PAC Cathaoirleach Deputy Brian Stanley said: “The bulk of Health voted expenditure relates to advances to the HSE for the provision of health services on a grant basis. The HSE's budget is the largest of any public sector organisation and in 2020 its total expenditure was just over €21bn and the majority of this – just under €20.5bn – was funded through Vote 38 - Health.

“A number of concerns in relation to the oversight of Ireland’s health system have been the subject of considerable commentary and public debate, and the Committee decided to engage with the Department of Health and the HSE to try and establish the extent of those issues and examine how the two entities propose to resolve these matters.

“Among the issues the Committee wishes to examine are the oversight and governance by the Department of HSE expenditure; HSE recruitment targets, budgeting, and delivery; waiting lists; consultants’ salary scales; and Departmental oversight of Exchequer funding carried forward by the HSE.

“The Committee looks forward to examining these and related matters with Mr Watt, Mr Reid and their colleagues in the context of our role to ensure public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money, particularly given the level of expenditure on Health and the critical services it funds.”

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

PAC is a standing committee of Dáil Éireann which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money. Further information on the role and remit of the Committee can be found here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.