IMPACT yesterday (Thursday) welcomed a decision by the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to ask the chiefs of the HSE and Department of Health to investigate the sanction of a €250,000 salary for one senior manager in the Limerick hospitals group.

The union had written to PAC chairman John McGuinness last month to set out its concerns on corporate governance and senior staff salaries in the hospital group. IMPACT official Andy Pike said any proper investigation would show the expenditure – which is being channelled through a management consultancy – was unjustified.

“The HSE director general has said the mid-west hospital group needs additional administration staff to provide vital services to patients. The money spent employing just one management consultant would cover the costs of at least five clerical staff to help the hospitals cope with increasing demands. In these circumstances, staff very much resent reporting to a senior manager who is being paid at least twice the correct rate for the job,” he said.

The union is currently balloting members across five hospitals in the region to sanction a refusal to report to the manager. The ballot result is due on 20th June.

The PAC questioned HSE director general Tony O’Brien and Department of Health secretary general Ambrose McCloughlin on the matter yesterday.