HSE refuses to name retired officials

THE HSE has refused to release the names of six more retired senior officials given lucrative outsourced contracts after they received severance packages and pensions to leave the system.

A parliamentary question response said Health Minister James Reilly has been told the information cannot be released due to Data Protection Act issues.

Just two weeks ago, a Freedom of Information (FoI) response to the Irish Examiner overruled a similar decision made in July in relation to former chairman of the HSE Employers Agency, Pat Harvey.