Latest news with #ComptrollerAndAuditorGeneral
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
New Heuson Station control centre faces further delays and cost overrun
A new centre in Dublin developed by Iarnród Éireann to control all train movements on the national rail network which was completed in 2022 will not become operational until late 2028 and is projected to cost €41 million over budget. Further delays and cost overruns on the development of a National Train Control Centre (NTCC) at Heuston Station and a new train traffic management system have been confirmed by the National Transport Authority. Advertisement The NTA admitted that 'additional funding will be required to support the completion of the project." The State's public spending watchdog has also forecast that the total cost of the project, which had an original budget of €148 million, is now likely to be €189 million. In a report on the NTA's annual financial statements for 2024, the Comptroller and Auditor General observed that the estimated cost overrun is now 28% over the original budget. The C&AG, Seamus McCarthy, also noted that the proposal by Iarnród Éireann to develop the NTCC was first approved by the NTA in July 2019. Advertisement The project included the construction of a new train control centre building at Heuston Station, the refurbishment of the existing central train control centre at Connolly Station, and the development of a new electronic train traffic management system and back-up facility. In its latest annual report, the NTA said expenditure on the NTCC had increased by €9.5 million last year compared to 2023 due to 'additional expenditures incurred in 2024 on equipment, materials and project management resources.' While the NTA said it performed in the role of approving authority for public transport projects, the delivery of the NTCC is the responsibility of Iarnród Éireann as the designated sponsoring agency. The NTA said total expenditure on the project up to the end of December 2024 has been €132.5 million. Advertisement In addition to the completion of the new centre at Heuston Station in 2022, the NTA said signalling, electrical and telecommunications enabling works were progressing 'on time and budget.' However, it confirmed that the delays had been experienced over the past two years in relation to the development of the traffic management system component of the project. 'As a result, while the remaining element of the project is planned to be delivered on a phased basis, the final phase is forecasted to be delayed by two years to May 2028,' the NTA stated. Last year, the NTA had estimated that the project would be completed by May 2026. Advertisement The C&AG said final acceptance and handover of the complete system including the back-up facilities are now expected in November 2028 due to 'a significant delay' over the development of the train traffic management system. The NTA said Iarnród Éireann had agreed a revised delivery strategy and associated contractual changes to the software element of the project last year in order to address the delays. In a letter to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last month, the NTA's interim chief executive, Hugh Creegan, said the current train control system in use on the Irish rail network was reaching end of life and had become 'challenging to maintain.' Mr Creegan stressed that the costs for the building works and other elements of the programme had been and were being delivered within their projected budgets. Advertisement He told TDs that the contractor for the train traffic management system has replaced some key personnel and brought a significant number of additional resources to the project to provide further experience and expertise to the delivery of a complex system. In addition, Mr Creegan said Iarnród Éireann has enhanced its project management resources to deliver better oversight of the contractor and for monitoring progress. Ireland Tusla warns it will blow its budget by nearly €68m... Read More The new NTCC building also houses a new control centre for An Garda Síochána in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. It will also be the location for a new control centre for regional road traffic being overseen by Dublin City Council which is expected to be operational in mid-2026 The Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien told the Oireachtas Transport Committee in June that the expected cost outturn for the NTCC was expected to be between €170 and €200 million. 'It is a very important piece of infrastructure. It is something we are working on with the NTA and Iarnród Éireann to get under the bonnet on that,' said Mr O'Brien.
Irish Times
25-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
HSE paid €720,000 invoice twice using different systems, audit finds
Two separate parts of the HSE , which operated different financial systems, paid a supplier more than €700,000 for the same invoice, new accounts published by the health service show. In a note on the accounts, the State's financial watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General maintains the HSE has not recovered the overpayment. The accounts also show that what is described as an 'asset', constructed in 2009 at a cost of €1.4 million but never used for its intended purposes, had been written off last year. The accounts say the cost of the write off was €800,000. The annual report and accounts for 2024 also reveal that about €4 million in payments due from the health insurance industry in respect of subscribers treated in HSE facilities was written off due to delays in submitting bills. The report says the risk of bad debts 'is most relevant' in relation to claims from one health insurer, which is not identified. The report says the HSE entered into a memorandum of agreement with a health insurer in 2016 in relation to accommodation charges for patients with private health insurance. 'The arrangement entitles the Executive to be paid 70 per cent of its charges, on account, pending the submission and validation within a 12-month period of a fully completed claim. Failure to meet the submission deadline results in forfeiture of the full value (100 per cent) of the claim.' [ Listeriosis outbreak 'unusual' as ready meals must be cooked, and bacteria is sensitive to heat, professor says Opens in new window ] 'For a sample of eight hospitals examined on audit, it was noted that losses incurred in 2024 as a result of delays in submitting completed claims amounted to €2 million. The Executive estimates that losses for the remaining hospitals that it manages were €2.1 million, resulting in an estimated total loss of €4.1 million for 2024. The annual report also shows that one HSE employee received just under €700,000 in total payments including basic pay, allowances, overtime and weekend, night duty and on-call fees last year. A total of ten HSE staff were paid in excess of €500,000 overall. The report also reveals that personal protective equipment worth about €22 million and vaccines to the value of about €11 million had been written off because they had become obsolete. The report shows that the supplier who was paid twice had entered into an arrangement with the HSE in 2020 for the supply of diagnostic devices, ancillary supplies and equipment as well as information technology and support. It says the overall system 'was considered to be of significant value in monitoring the condition of Covid-19 patients in hospital settings'. Ultimately the supplier received about €15 million up to 2024. However, the report raises concerns about procurement arrangements and controls over how the money was being spent. [ Inquiry begins into historical use of anti-epileptic drug and effects on pregnant women Opens in new window ] 'The initial arrangement with the supplier was put in place without a competitive procurement process on the basis of emergency circumstances, as provided for in procurement legislation. However, the arrangement continued each year until 2024 without being regularised through an appropriate competitive tendering process. Accordingly, it represented significant non-compliant procurement over a number of years.' 'The payments to the supplier over the period 2020 to 2024 amounted to a total of €15 million. However, the terms of the procurement arrangement were not set out in a formal written contract with the supplier. In practice, the arrangement was that a number of units of the Health Service Executive were invoiced from time to time by the supplier for devices and ancillary items. This included prepayment each quarter from mid-2022 to mid-2024 for supply of a standard number of devices, to be drawn down as required by individual hospitals. The Executive did not maintain central records of the total number of units paid for. The number of devices received by hospitals, or paid for and remaining undrawn from the supplier is not known. The Executive also does not know how many of the items paid for were actually used in its hospitals.' 'The Executive discloses that as part of efforts to improve control over the receipt of goods, it identified that one invoice from the supplier to the value of €723,000 had been paid twice, in two different areas of the Executive operating at the time (in December 2021) on separate financial systems. The Executive has not recovered the overpayment from the supplier.'
