New health tapes: Claims of ‘horror of waste’ in HSE, ‘batshit’ targets and an absence of ‘fear or respect’

Officials raised concerns about the effect the HSE’s recruitment crisis would have on the ability to open planned new hospitals

Stephen Donnelly, Minister for Health: under direction from his department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last year, the HSE has also handed back €267 million in surplus funding which it carried over from unspent 2020 funding

New leaked recordings of Department of Health meetings reveal a senior official’s concerns about the “horror of waste” in the HSE and questions over the need for a supplementary €514 million budget in 2020.

The Business Post has obtained recordings of meetings in which officials raised concerns about the effect the HSE’s recruitment crisis would have on the ability to open planned new hospitals.

Separately, this newspaper has established that the HSE is considering making an €80 million correction to its 2020 accounts due to what it terms are “technical accounting adjustments”. The Business Post has also confirmed that the HSE was ordered to return €267 million to the exchequer last year, due to a surplus of funding carried over from its 2020 financial year.