Audit finds lack of controls in HSE retirement scheme

An internal audit of the HSE’s voluntary retirement scheme, in late 2010, warned there was “an absence of national controls” in preventing pension holders from returning to work in the system.

The 26-page report, which was concluded in April 2011 and released last month under the Freedom of Information Act, said that despite the concerns, “responsibility for monitoring re-employment had not been designated” — five months after the scheme ended.

The audit also found that, while retirees were not able to be re-employed in agencies or bodies “mainly funded” by the State under the terms of the scheme, there was no definition of which groups this involved.