Dr Mosney Asylum a fiction says board

DR MOSNEY ASYLUM, the medic who appeared to receive €4,940 for treating asylum seekers, is fictional and so was the payment made to him.

The General Medical Services (Payments) Board (GMSPB) yesterday admitted Dr Mosney’s name had appeared on the annual list of doctors paid for treating medical card holders due to an administrative cock-up. GMSPB chief officer Paddy Bourke said the name had been created to accommodate a computer programme which allocates money to doctors based on the number of medical card holders they treat. Because a number of card-holding asylum seekers in the Mosney accommodation centre are not assigned to any doctor, a name was devised to allow the computer programme to run and to set aside money for the treatment of these individuals. As a result, almost €5,000 was set aside.

“There is no Dr Mosney and no money was paid out. His name should have been deleted from the list,” Mr Bourke said yesterday. The asylum seekers for whom the money was set aside have not yet been treated under the medical card scheme.