THE Comptroller and Auditor General is trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious case of the 329 missing shower units.
Mr John Purcell, in his annual report, wants to know how 336 electric shower units, valued at £41,857, disappeared from St James's Hospital, Dublin, between 1985 and 1994.
Mr Purcell said the "stock misappropriation" was discovered in January 1995, when alterations to stores vouchers were detected. "It appeared that while 336 shower units had been supplied over a 10 year period, only seven had, in fact, been installed within the hospital and there were no units in stock at 31st December, 1994."
He has been told that none of the missing showers has been recovered by the hospital.
The chairman of the hospital board was informed in January 1995, and a detailed report was made last July.
Another £250,000 loss to the taxpayer was incurred by Bord Iascaigh Mhara on an "unstable" fishing vessel.
Mr Purcell said the financial position was that while BIM had ownership of an unstable fishing vessel with a probable value of less than £120,000, it had cost BIM £370,164 to the end of 1995. The chief executive of BIM had informed him that the grant application had been carried out "with due diligence, and the proper procedures had been adhered to".
Approval had been granted in the knowledge that similar vessels were operating successfully off the Donegal coast.
The report also showed that the Blood Transfusion Service Board may have to write off nearly £500,000 in respect of rejected blood products.
In 1994 a batch of albumin produced from plasma supplied by the board to a European company was withdrawn on the advice of the board's medical sub committee. The value of this albumin was £68,000. As a consequence the European company advised that it now required that all plasma be ALT tested (a screening test for liver disease).
Agreement was reached not to pay £154,434 on non ALT tested plasma valued at £308,000, already supplied to the company. Accordingly, a total of £222,434 was written off in 1994 in respect of these matters.
The chief executive told Mr Purcell that additional write offs amounting to £255,000 may have to be made in respect of plasma withdrawn by the board last year on the advice of its medical sub committee.