THE acting chief executive of St James's Hospital said yesterday he thought it unlikely that a file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions over a fraud discovered in 1994.
Mr John O'Brien told the Dail Committee on Public Accounts that it was a matter for the Garda and he suggested the committee should seek a reply.
Mr O'Brien was being questioned about a misappropriation of 336 shower units over a 10 year period. Only seven were installed in the hospital. The person involved has since left the hospital's employment.
The essence of the problem, Mr O'Brien said, was a failure to separate the purchasing function and the technical services stores. The same person had responsibility for ordering the showers and accounting for their storage. Mr Tommy Broughan (Lab) said it was clear that the stock control position in St James's was a total disaster".
Mr Michael Finucane (FG) said he was concerned that the lack of control in that area might extend to more serious matters, such as blood products.
Mr O'Brien said the hospital recognises the need for controls, as pointed out in the 1995 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, but it was wrong to infer that the absence of stock control meant no control.
Mr Purcell heavily qualified the financial statements of the hospital in his report. He said that plant, equipment, vehicles and furniture were not included in the balance sheet "as the information required for their inclusion has not yet been extracted and collated". The omission "does not conform with the Standard Accounting Policy Guidelines".
Mr O'Brien said he did not know where the missing shower units had ended up. They were valued at £41,857, excluding VAT.
Raising a point of "protocol" Mr Broughan suggested that committee members should preclude themselves from asking questions on bodies they are associated with. Mr Eric Byrne (DL), who is on the board of St James's, said he had declared his interest.