The Health Service Executive (HSE) refused to say yesterday how much the new computerised payroll system it wants to put in place for all staff will cost.
It announced its plans to put the new system in place on Thursday after its board decided to abandon the roll out of Ppars, the controversial computerised payroll and human resources system for the health service.
At present Ppars is used in three of the old health board regions only and at St James's Hospital in Dublin. It was meant to be rolled out across the State and to cost €9 million but in November 2005, when its costs had soared to €130 million, the chief executive of the HSE Prof Brendan Drumm suspended its roll out amid concerns at escalating costs.
Since then the HSE has been considering what to do about it. It says it has now decided it wants a computer system with a broad range of capabilities - a system that would record over 140 million staff hours per year, the pay of over 75,000 staff, reporting relationships, training records, rostering and pensions.
It has asked the Department of Finance to approve a new computer system.
Yesterday Opposition parties again accused the HSE of wasting taxpayers' money by abandoning the roll-out of Ppars as originally envisaged, after millions had already been spent on it. However, a HSE spokeswoman said the new system would incorporate some of the Ppars software.
"They are not going to switch off the machines where they are currently used and bring in brand new ones so the investment stands," she added.
Fine Gael's health spokesman Brian Hayes said the abandonment of the ill-fated Ppars system, while not surprising, would be stomach-churning for patients and taxpayers as it meant millions had "been flushed down the drain".
He called for rigid monitoring at all stages of the new system by the Department of Finance.
Labour's Seán Sherlock said the HSE had confirmed to his party in mid-April that total accumulated costs for Ppars had now escalated to €176.8m.
"This is money that could and should have been spent on providing badly needed additional hospital beds," he said.
He hoped the decision of the board of the HSE to abandon further roll-out of Ppars was "the final chapter in one of the most shocking cases of waste of public money under the Fianna Fáil Government". He continued: "No one has been called to account to this cavalier approach to taxpayers' money."
Sinn Féin health spokesman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the money wasted on Ppars could have provided medical card services for tens of thousands of people.