A human resources computer system, the PPARS, seen as a "silver bullet" to drive change within the health services has turned out to be a hugely expensive dud. Just how costly it may yet become is unclear. But the Comptroller & Auditor General, John Purcell has reported that the original 1997 estimate of €9.14 million increased to €191 million before the project was suspended by the Health Service Executive (HSE) last October.
This is an outrageous waste of public money. It is testimony to the dysfunctional nature of the old health boards, recently replaced by the HSE. One of the reasons the PPARS system failed to deliver was its inability to deal with two-and-a-half thousand variations in pay and conditions that had developed within the health boards. Overtime was calculated in different ways in different areas. Special individual allowances were paid. The extent of absenteeism was unclear. Staff numbers were under-reported to the Department of Health. No useful workforce planning could be undertaken as a result.
In such circumstances, it was understandable that ministers at the Department of Health should encourage computerisation. It appeared to offer a means of cutting through archaic work practices. But, now things have gone badly wrong, the Minister for Health, Ms Harney, cannot avoid some political responsibility for the debacle. The same applies to her predecessor, Micheál Martin. It was the department that provided money for the system and it is responsible for policy-making.
Of more immediate concern to taxpayers, however, is to call a halt to the profligacy and poor management that saw consultancy firms walk away with €57 million in fees from this project while the State was left with a system that does not work.
As Mr Purcell makes clear in his report, there is a danger the fiasco could repeat itself. For PPARS is just one component of an information infrastructure programme being developed by the health services, with a cost that could run into billions. Because of that, it is imperative the HSE should immediately establish an effective ICT management system to handle investment, to consult with line managers, focus on consumer services and consolidate the expertise being developed in the course of the various projects.
A very expensive lesson has, hopefully, been learned by the Department of Health in relation to PPARS. The report by the C&AG makes for grim reading. He criticised the manner in which external consultants and contractors were engaged for the project. He found rates of pay were higher than the tenders submitted. And he urged that future developments should only be undertaken if there were clearly defined lines of authority, responsibility and accountability. That should have happened eight years ago. But it didn't. And money that could have been spent on hospital patient care was shamefully wasted. The Tánaiste has a responsibility to ensure it doesn't happen again.