22 Apr 2015, 16:44
Procurement issues at the Health Service Executive (HSE) will be on the agenda of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee tomorrow morning. Issues including pay levels at Section 38 and 39 agencies, waiting lists, the recent A&E crisis, medical card eligibility, the cost of drugs and the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme are likely to feature in discussions.
22 April 2015
The Comptroller and Auditor General 2013 Accounts and the HSE Performance Report 2014 will provide the basis of the discussions. Senior officials from the Department of Health and the HSE will be appearing before the Committee.
PAC Chairman John McGuinness says that the Committee will wish to assess the €1.6 billion that the HSE spent on procurement in 2013. “The C&AG Annual Report points to the significant rates of non-compliance by the HSE in the area of procurement. The C&AG found that approximately 36 percent of a sample of one hundred payments to suppliers were not subject to appropriate procurement processes. We will wish to examine the reliability and accuracy of HSE methods of measuring savings in this area. PAC Members are also likely to raise concerns in relation to a dossier received by the Committee, which includes allegations that HSE contracts being awarded to former staff at the agency.”
Deputy McGuinness says that ongoing pressures on the HSE budget will be raised: “An increased budget was allocated in 2015 which was determined to ensure that the HSE has a more sustainable funding model. The large numbers of patients on trollies and waiting lists remains the source of widespread public concern. We will wish to assess the extent to which the overall budget has been reconfigured so as to tackle delayed discharges and the flexibility of the budget so that money can be allocated to areas where there is most pressure. The Committee will also be asking whether the projected costs at end of March in line with target figures.”
In 2013, almost €3.5bn of HSE’s expenditure related to grants to voluntary agencies, so governance of Section 38 Funded Agencies will also be raised. Deputy McGuinness says that non-compliance with public sector pay policy remains a concern: “The PAC received correspondence indicating that the HSE has requested that the Department of Health consider sanctioning the continuation of remuneration arrangements or allowances for 84 employees. Members will wish to follow up on the measures being introduced for agencies that are still in breach of public pay rules.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Thursday 23 April in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 at 10 am.
Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Ends
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Committee Membership
Deputies:
Áine Collins, Fine Gael
Paul J. Connaughton, Fine Gael
Joe Costello, Labour Party
John Deasy, Fine Gael
Robert Dowds, Labour Party
Seán Fleming, Fianna Fáil
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin
John McGuinness, Fianna Fáil (Chairman)
Gabrielle McFadden, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour Party
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
John Perry, Fine Gael
Shane Ross, Independent