7 DFómh 2015, 14:37
The Committee of Public Accounts will deal with a number of health related issues at its meeting tomorrow.
7th October 2015
The Committee will examine the following:
1. The vote of the Office of the Minister for Health
2. The accounts of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service
3. The Financial Statements of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
Officials from all three public bodies will give appear before the Committee.
Following this, Officials from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) will brief the Committee on issues surrounding the IBTS pension scheme.
On the examination of the vote of the office of the Minister for Health, Deputy John Mc Guinness outlined how this account is going to change significantly next year when the monies allocated to the HSE are allocated through this Vote: “The Committee will be anxious to establish how well prepared the Department is to accommodate a budget change that will see net expenditure go from €200 million to €12 billion. It cannot be just a name-change over the door and we still do not have the integrated financial management systems that will enable proper budget management.”
Relating to the Irish Blood Transfusion Board, Deputy McGuinness says, “There is a big hole in the pension scheme of staff who perform a vital public service. It now stands at €92 million and that cannot continue. We will be looking for answers as to how this deficit is going to be filled”
In a separate session, Officials from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) will address the Committee on its Annual Accounts for 2013.
The accounts show that €35 million has had to be written-off when the proposed new national children’s hospital at the Mater site had to be abandoned.
Deputy Mc Guinness outlined the importance of PAC oversight of this project: “This is a project that will cost about €650 million and it is important that there is full accountability for this spend as the project progresses. I welcome the appearance of those charged with building this hospital and we will want to see how this project is progressing and how the risks associated with such a project are being managed. We also need to learn from the mistakes of the past: while the write-off of €35 million is not the responsibility of the current board, we need to learn from the review which led to the impairment, so that we never repeat such a mistake”.
The Committee will meet at 10am in Committee Room 3 tomorrow, Thursday 8th October 2015.
Public proceedings can be followed live here.
From 11.10am – 2pm, the meeting will also be broadcast live on Oireachtas TV on Sky Channel 574; Virgin Media Channel 207 and eir Vision Channel 504.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
ENDS
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Committee Membership
Chairman: John McGuinness (Fianna Fáil)
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
Gabrielle McFadden, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour Party
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
John Perry, Fine Gael
Shane Ross, Independent