Audit defends €625k HSA bill for fine dining and hotels

Despite lavish spending during the boom, an internal audit by the country’s health and safety watchdog has concluded the taxpayer-funded agency did not abuse credit cards by splashing out at five-star international hotels and Michelin restaurants.

Crowleys DFK Chartered Accountants defended the Health and Safety Authority’s €625,668 credit card bill between Jan 2005 and Jun 2011 as being just 1% of its non-pay expenditure.

The audit was given to the Public Accounts Committee in May after it convened a hearing on HSA credit card expenditure.