Dáil watchdog to probe SHB contracts

THE awarding of €1 million worth of business by a health board to a consultancy firm, without the contracts going to tender, is to be probed by a public finance watchdog.

The Southern Health Board persistently breached EU procurement rules when it granted six separate projects, including one contract worth €580,000, to the consultants during 2001 and 2002.

The failure to go to tender was discovered by Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell during his examination of the SHB’s accounts, who then carried out a special report.

Mr Purcell said there was no evidence the health board had evaluated if its own staff could do the work or if the consultancy firm had the capabilities to carry out the tasks.

The C&AG’s highly critical report was passed on to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, which will quiz SHB chief executive Seán Hurley on the revelations. Health Minister Mícheál Martin also received a copy of the report. Last night, Green Party finance spokesman Dan Boyle, a member of the PAC, described the health board’s behaviour as unacceptable.

A spokesperson for the SHB would not confirm the identity of the consultancy company. However, the spokesperson said the firm in question has not tendered for nor has it been awarded any contracts since 2002. Last night, a firm publicly linked to a number of the contracts under investigation said it was up to its clients to confirm if it had worked on particular projects.

Responding to the C&AG’s criticisms, Mr Hurley summarised the reasons for awarding the contracts without following a tender procedure:

The board’s previous positive experience of the firm.

The firm’s proven approach to strategy development and implementation.

The firm’s experience and knowledge of the workings of the board.

The firm’s track record in ensuring skills transfers to the board’s staff.

The health board chief also said the firm in question had first been hired in 1997 for help on three management projects and the subsequent work in 2001 and 2002 was linked to the earlier work.

But last night, Mr Boyle said the PAC would be seeking more information from the SHB management when it appears before the committee in the autumn.

Given the variety of the contracts involved, he said the health board will have to explain why it could not conduct the work itself and why the same company was picked every time. “This is bad practice and the amount of money involved is unacceptable. There are public procurement rules here that were totally ignored,” the Cork South-Central TD said.