IMPACT members working at the Limerick Hospitals Group concluded their industrial action two weeks ago. The action, which began in July, was in opposition to the payment of a €250,000 annual fee to management consultants Starline Ltd. for a chief operations manager. The union described the payments to the company as excessive and unwarranted. The industrial action ended after Starline's involvement with the hospital group concluded earlier this month.

An internal audit by the HSE has confirmed that the awarding of successive contracts to Starline was non-compliant with EU tender regulations and the HSE’s own financial regulations.

IMPACT official Andy Pike said “The HSE’s admission that its own financial regulations were breached, and that the process also breached EU rules, vindicates IMPACT’s position that the use of a management consultant was inappropriate” he said.

Andy said that IMPACT is pursuing the full disclosure of the internal audit. “It remains our view that those managing HSE staff should be paid according to public sector pay rates and should be subject to the same rules as the staff they manage. We have little doubt that, if IMPACT members had not taken a stand on this issue, the management consultant would still be in place” he said.