Ex-HSE official defends earnings from contracts

A RETIRED senior HSE official who received hundreds of thousands of euro in non-tendered contracts has said “the country is awash” with former officials who earn money the same way.

Responding to an Irish Examiner investigation into spending at the now-defunct HSE Employers Agency (HSE EA), Pat Harvey argued it was “more of an issue for the HSE” and he “never asked” for the money or contracts.

Mr Harvey, from Letterkenny, was speaking on the Donegal-based Highland Radio after it emerged he received lucrative non-tendered contracts from the HSE EA — a group he used to chair — just months after retiring.