THE DEPARTMENT of Health has begun an internal investigation into the extent of funding paid out in recent years as part of the partnership process with trade unions.
The move follows the controversy over the payment of more than €2.3 million in funding – about €250,000 annually – which was channelled through the Health Service Executive to Siptu over recent years.
The trade union has denied receiving the money, which was paid as part of an overall allocation of €12 million each year to the Skill programme for the training of lower-paid health staff.
The operation of the payment to Siptu and the funding for the Skill programme have been strongly criticised in an internal HSE audit.
On Friday, the HSE made a formal complaint to the Garda about public money that could not be accounted for.
Department of Health secretary general Michael Scanlan has sought a report from officials on “what funding was sanctioned by this department in relation to management/union partnership arrangement other than Skill”.
The department yesterday declined to comment on claims made by HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm that there was no business case for its decision to pay the controversial €250,000 annual grant to Siptu.
In a letter sent on Friday, Prof Drumm said the HSE’s internal audit had not been able to find any detailed information on the reason these funds were being paid to Siptu. Prof Drumm’s letter was in response to suggestions by Mr Scanlan that the blame lay with the HSE for deficiencies in oversight of the funding.
The funding was paid by the HSE into an account under the name of the “Siptu national health and local authority levy fund”.
The HSE audit found that part of the money paid to Siptu had been used to pay for some of 31 foreign trips undertaken by civil servants, health service staff and trade union representatives, including visits to the US, Australia, Hong Kong and Britain.
In a letter to Prof Drumm last week, Mr Scanlan said responsibility for all of the administration of the expenditure to the Skill programme, including amounts paid to Siptu, “was a matter for the HSE”. He said governance arrangements for the Skill programme drawn up in 2005 had not been implemented by the HSE.
As reported in The Irish Timeslast week, late in 2004 the Department of Health put the €250,000 on a firm footing. It told Siptus national industrial secretary Matt Merrigan that the money had been earmarked for human resources schemes to ensure "best practice in health enterprises".
The payment is now the subject of an internal Siptu inquiry. Mr Merrigan has declined to comment.
In a replying letter sent to Mr Scanlan last Friday, Prof Drumm said while the HSE accepted there were issues for it to address in how funds associated with the Skill programme were dispersed, the internal audit also raised issues for the Department of Health and Department of Finance.