No Garda vetting for HSE staff at centre of nepotism claims

TEMPORARY staff hired by the Health Service Executive to administer a Government supplementary welfare allowance started work last week without receiving Garda vetting.

The Irish Examiner has established that a group of community welfare officers (CWOs) placed on short-term contracts has not received proper Garda clearance to carry out their work.

All HSE staff employed as CWOs are required to undergo Garda vetting as they have access to sensitive, confidential information about social welfare recipients.

However, around a dozen temporary staff recruited by the HSE in Limerick were interviewed and hired within the space of just over a week earlier this month.

The Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy recently told a Dáil committee that the average waiting time for applicants to be cleared by the Garda Central Vetting Unit in Thurles, Co Tipperary, stands at 9-10 weeks due to the large numbers seeking such clearance.

A HSE source said the temporary staff would not have received clearance in time before they commenced work on June 14, although he pointed out that the positions were deemed relatively “low risk”.

The HSE has begun an internal investigation into recent media reports which highlighted how relatives of existing HSE staff, including several senior managers in Cork and Limerick, were recently recruited for well-paid temporary jobs without holding an open competition. At least seven officials, whose relatives have recently been recruited for temporary posts associated with the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Scheme, have been identified.

It is understood the HSE has received information about other claims of nepotism concerning other temporary HSE positions filled in the south-east and west of the country.

The Irish Examiner has also received information containing allegations of several other incidents of family and friends of high-ranking HSE managers being given temporary positions, which carry salaries of over €29,000 per annum, without the vacancies being advertised to the public. Reports of favouritism towards relatives by current HSE staff in filling vacancies has angered hundreds of people waiting on HSE panels who are promised to be considered for future positions such as clerical officers.

The controversial appointments have also led the trade union, IMPACT, to demand answers from the HSE about the manner in which it filled recent vacancies in Limerick. The issue has led to what one source in the HSE Mid-West region described as “a bureaucratic nightmare”.

“Morale has reached an all-time low as a result of this affair. Many people are incensed at how a small group of people seem to have decided how to fill these positions,” said another HSE staff member.

The HSE confirmed last evening that a review is being carried out into the recruit process employed to engage 105 temporary staff to support the implementation of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Scheme. A spokesperson said the review was expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

He pointed out that HSE recruitment and appointments are governed by a code of practice. Since April 2005, HSE vacancies are regulated by the Commission for Public Service Appointments.

The HSE spokesperson said anyone who felt they had been unfairly treated by the HSE’s recruitment process could report suspected breaches of the code of practice to the CPSA.