Health boards spend €115m on unapproved projects

HEALTH boards spent up to €115 million on building projects without Department of Health approval, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed yesterday.

A health audit from the Government watchdog found the problem arose after €2.54 billion in funding was announced for capital investment in the health sector as part of the National Development Programme (NDP) in 2000.

By February the following year, each health board had sent a draft development plan to the Department of Health and had been informed individually how much money they would have to spend.