CHAIN OF EVENTS

APRIL 2 -

A whistleblower contacts the MoS to say they are aware that Mercy University Hospital is using EU food aid to feed patients. The MoS makes separate FOI requests to Mercy University Hospital and the Department of Agriculture asking for various correspondence and records relating to the hospital’s distribution of EU food aid.

MAY 8 -

The Department of Agriculture grants the release of the hospital’s application forms for food under the EU’s Most Deprived Programme. It also provides the record books submitted by the hospital to account for tonnes of food aid it received. These clearly show the food was fed to patients instead of being distributed to deprived members of the community. This is a swathe of dummy The hospital text provides the MoS with its records. These that include can be declarations – signed year after year – by used hospital to administrators in which they swear the food indicate being received how is being distributed to deprived many members words of the community. It is clear, though, that the food was only being fed to hospital patients –

including private patients.

MAY 15 -

MAY 28 -

Having examined all the records, the MoS informs the hospital that we will publish a story about the issue this Sunday. In advance of publication we send written questions to the hospital, the Department of Agriculture, the HSE and the Department of Health. We also contact the EU Commission for Agriculture which runs the food aid scheme. We ask about the legitimacy of food aid being fed to private and fee paying patients and we ask for explanations for food which appears to have gone missing without being accounted for.

MAY 29 -

In a statement to the MoS, the hospital admits it was wrong, says it acted in good faith because it thought it was eligible for the scheme and says the value of the food received has been paid back. The MoS asks for clarification about when the money was paid back.

MAY 30 -

The hospital clarifies that it paid back the money the previous day – almost two months after the MoS first raised the issue in an FOI and just a day after we informed the hospital of our intention to publish.