‘NO EVIDENCE FROM HOLLES STREET ON SOURCE OF TOP-UP PAYMENTS’ – HSE

THE source of the top-up payments made to three senior managers at the National Maternity Hospital (NMH), Holles Street, has still not been disclosed.

The hospital has said payments made to three senior executives were generated ‘from privately generated sources ie these are not paid from the HSE allocation and not from donations or fundraising’.

However, the NMH failed to provide documents or evidence to satisfy the audit of this.

‘NMH has not provided any evidence to HSE Internal Audit to substantiate its assertion that these additional remuneration sums paid to the three senior managers are funded by a privately generated source (ie it has not provided documentary evidence nor has it identified accounting transactions in its financial records and accounts of the monies being due to, or being received by, NMH from the privately generated source to fund the additional remuneration sums paid though its payroll to its senior managers,’ the report states.

In February 2014, the NMH submitted cases to the HSE as to why the payments for the three senior managers should be continued ‘but declined to provide evidence of such contracts to HSE HR, citing confidentiality reasons’.

The payments were deemed non-compliant with government pay policy. Furthermore, the NMH failed to show payments it made to the three senior staff were reimbursed by the semi-private clinic.

‘It has not provided documentary evidence of the monies being received by NMH from the privately generated source or being accounted for in its accounts income or as a debtor.’

The report states: ‘Further contributory factors to the lack of transparency include NMH not providing the contracts to HSE HR as part of the business case process in 2014 (citing confidentiality) to confirm the purpose of the additional payments or to confirm NMH’s assertion that the additional salary payments are contractually binding.’