Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Public Accounts Committee
2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 14 - Procurement by the Health Service Executive
Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2013
10:00 am
Mr. Tony O'Brien:
Holles Street would contend that it is in compliance with public pay policy. We are saying that by not giving us this information, it is not in compliance with our process. While that might seem like splitting hairs, there is an important distinction. In some instances, throughout this process, we discovered that some of the returns that were made to us at the outset included arrangements which probably should never have been returned. For example, there were instances where people were receiving genuinely private income from legitimate private sources but, for reasons of administrative convenience, this was put through a singular pay roll and returned to us, which might not have been the appropriate thing to do. These issues are never completely black and white. I am conscious that whenever this issue comes up, two individuals in Holles Street may be feeling under particular pressure. I do not want to suggest that we have reached a view that they are in breach of public policy. We do not yet know whether or not that is the case.
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