Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Public Accounts Committee

2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive

3:45 pm

Mr. Tony O'Brien:

It was not in accordance with approved scales but our understanding is that it was part of a contractual undertaking that had been entered into by the board of that institution at that time. I made the distinction in my opening remarks between those who approve and arrange for payments and those who receive them, who often, in effect, were innocent parties. If persons are recruited and offered entrance salaries, they are not always in a position to know whether that has been approved by the relevant authorities. Consequently our focus is very much on the governance aspect of this, rather than on the individuals who were receiving the payments.