HEALTH chiefs who ordered cutbacks in services because of cost overruns have spent over €30 million paying consultants to show them how to improve the system.

THE crisis-ridden PPARS payroll system for the health service that cost taxpayers €177 million is to be replaced with a new one.

THE future prosperity of the country would be under threat if Fine Gael and Labour were elected to government, Finance Minister Brian Cowen warned yesterday.

I HAVE been working as a surgical doctor solely in the public health service for the past 10 years.

GREEN PARTY leader Trevor Sargent promised voters eco-action, not tax auctions, if his party gets into government.

TAXPAYERS’ bill for the health service’s crisis-ridden PPARS payroll system is set to top €186 million — and it still can’t cope with sick leave.

THE controversial PPARS payroll system for the health services is still costing up to €1.5 million a month, it was claimed yesterday.

CONSULTANTS working on the troubled PPARS payroll system will get more than half of the €18m spent on the discredited project this year, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, claimed yesterday.

Up to €18m will be spent on the troubled PPARS payroll system this year, the Dáil heard today.

The Government has been accused of attempting to bury the controversy surrounding the PPARS computer system until after next year’s General Election.

UP TO €1.7 million has been paid in performance related bonus payments to senior managers since the Health Service Executive (HSE) was set up at the beginning of last year.

DAVID CAMERON, the Conservative leader, was interviewed by John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4’s Today a few days ago.

A RADICAL overhaul of the way taxpayers’ money is spent will be called for by Fine Gael and Labour in a joint policy document to be published today.

FINE Gael leader Enda Kenny yesterday contended up to five companies recruited to work on the PPARS payroll system for the health services may have been involved in facilitating tax avoidance.

CHRISTMAS came early for TDs yesterday as the Dáil broke for Christmas holidays - for the best part of six weeks.

HEALTH chiefs last night sparked alarm by admitting they do not know how much is being spent on their computer system upgrades as the Government moves to pump billions more into the projects.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern attempted to spread blame for the €195 million PPARS debacle to the Opposition yesterday.

CHAOS, confusion and a lack of leadership in the health service led to taxpayers facing a €195 million bill for the flop PPARS computer system, it was revealed last night.

THE computer debacle at the centre of the health service gets ever worse judging by the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the PPARS project.

KEY figures in charge of introducing PPARS did not know how far their authority stretched, with the result that important decisions were delayed or flawed.

The Health Service Executive says no decision will be taken until the New Year on whether the controversial PPARS computer system will be rolled out nationally.

The Government's spending watchdog has severely criticised the introduction of the controversial computer system designed the streamline the health service's payroll.

The State's spending watchdog is reportedly set to criticise the manner in which external consultants were used in relation to the controversial PPARS computer system.

The Tánaiste Mary Harney has confirmed that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report into the controversial PPARS computer payroll system will be published this week.

AN appropriate pay deal is in place for the top Health Service Executive (HSE) positions, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney insisted yesterday.

THE Health Services Executive has been accused of paying almost €2 million to a “shelf company” for work related to the controversial PPARS computer system.

A shelf company was paid €2m by the Health Services Executive for its work on a controversial payroll system, it was claimed tonight.

WITH barely 18 months to the next general election, significant tremors were felt on the political landscape at the weekend as a rejuvenated Fine Gael flexed newfound muscles so vigorously that its planned marriage with Labour could be jeopardised.

WASTE of taxpayers’ money could be cut if the Budget is switched to September, an influential Dáil committee stated yesterday.

THE Government should own up when it gets things wrong, Finance Minister Brian Cowen told the Árd Fheis.

FINANCE Minister Brian Cowen last night unveiled sweeping reforms to tackle cost over-runs on major Government projects.

THE manager hoiked up his anorak and looked wearily at the shambles unfolding on the pitch.

PROBLEMS with Government IT projects could have been identified 18 months ago, saving millions of euro, if an investigation demanded by the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had been carried out.

The acronym GUBU - grotesque, unprecedented, bizarre and unbelievable - springs readily to mind in the case of MediaLab Europe (MLE).

THE opposition has rubbished suggestions that no Government minister should be held responsible for the €150 million PPARS debacle.

SEND for the consultants, the Government’s motto seems to be these days, when Bertie and Co should really be sending for Stephen Hawking.

THE Government was last night accused of squandering €3 million on a new IT fiasco, with only a photograph to show for the wasted taxpayers’ cash.

The Government has suspended another computer project – a website – because it didn’t work properly, it emerged tonight.

Government departments will have tighter rules for managing computer projects and hiring outside consultants, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.

FINE GAEL last night demanded the creation of a powerful Oireachtas watchdog committee able to sound alarm bells over potentially disastrous projects before taxpayers' money is wasted on them.

It is rather akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but the new creed espoused by Tánaiste Mary Harney in relation to employing consultants is at least somewhat encouraging for the taxpayers.

JUST when the health services thought that it had finally put a lid on the PPARS controversy, a letter appeared yesterday that again put the Department of Health and the Health Services Executive (HSE) on the back foot.

PAT HARVEY, the former chair of the national steering committee for the PPARS project, has a reputation as a go-ahead and dynamic health executive, though one who has sometimes courted controversy for his direct approach.

IT dawned on me this week why the Comptroller and Auditor General publishes a report on the overspending by various Government departments every year.