Health board admits starting work on HQ without securing funds

CONSTRUCTION on a €9.5million building for the North Western Health Board began before formal funding for the project had been secured, a Dáil committee heard yesterday.

The NWHB admitted yesterday to breaching Irish and EU regulations over the construction of its headquarters at Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard that the NWHB had signed contracts for the new building before it had obtained any approval for its funding from the Department of Health. The Comptroller & Auditor General John Purcell said an audit of the NWHB’s accounts in 2001 showed that the board had signed a formal contract with an Omagh-based construction firm in March of that year.