Consultants received €22m in one year

THE C&AG report shows that while money within the HSE has never been tighter, millions have still been spent on outside consultants ranging from media to data analysis.

The report shows the HSE paid €22 million in consultancy fees in 2009 and 27 consultants services were audited as part of a sample by the C&AG, their services used by the HSE between 2006 and 2010 and costing €41.2m.

The C&AG found “there was limited monitoring in a substantial number of projects” and there were also incidents of overcharging, with the report stating “inadequate details were available on how the amount was decided in the case of four consultancies”.