PAC: Senior children's hospital board member legally obliged to inform minister of cost overruns

The State's independent financial watchdog has confirmed the senior Department of Public Expenditure official who sat on children's hospital boards was legally obliged to tell Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe of cost problems the moment they emerged.

Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy confirmed the situation this morning despite repeated claims by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mr Donohoe that senior official Paul Quinn's board position was in a "personal capacity".