THE HEALTH Service Executive has appointed Turlough O’Sullivan to carry out an independent investigation into compliance arrangements surrounding contentious matters relating to its Skill project.
This independent investigation follows on from an internal HSE audit of the project. Some of the issues are currently the subject of a Garda investigation.
“A number of management process failures were uncovered by the internal audit and actions have already been taken by management arising from the audit report,” the HSE confirmed in a statement issued last night.
Under the terms of reference for his independent investigation, Mr O’Sullivan will examine a number of issues that arose in the report including whether or not HSE staff complied with travel, human resources and financial regulations.
At issue is the disbursement of a €2.3 million fund paid by the Department of Health to trade union Siptu over several years.
No terms or conditions were attached to the transfer of the money from the department via the HSE to Siptu.
This budget was subsequently used to fund at least 31 overseas trips involving senior civil servants and trade union officials to destinations such as the US, Australia and Hong Kong.
Mr O’Sullivan is a former director general of employers’ federation Ibec, which represents over 7,000 businesses and organisations.
He is also a former member of the board of the Labour Relations Commission.
He holds a BA from UCD and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.