Dental hospital promoted chief executive's PA to role of head of IT without holding competition

All such appointments within the public sector must be advertised publicly before a recruitment process can begin. File picture

A HSE-funded dental training hospital promoted the personal assistant of its chief executive to the role of head of IT without a competition.

The Dublin Dental University Hospital, which previously spent more than €160,000 on free coffees, pastries, and other food for lunch meetings without a competitive tender, promoted the PA, who had worked directly for its chief executive for more than a decade at the time, to "information technology project manager".