Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice has welcomed the publication of the HSE’s review of insourcing and outsourcing in the health service.
Deputy Rice, who is Chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee, said:
“Ahead of this morning’s Health Committee sitting, the Minister for Health published the HSE’s review of insourcing and outsourcing, which identified serious concerns with insourcing arrangements including conflicts of interest, non-compliance with procurement rules, abuses of public funds, and even fraud.
“It is welcome that the HSE has recommended phasing out all insourcing arrangements by June 30th 2026 – the Minister for Health must accept this recommendation and ensure that it is implemented on time to prevent any further abuses of public money.
“One of the most concerning findings comes from the HSE’s initial analysis of 148 companies involved in insourcing and outsourcing – this revealed that 83 current or former health service staff have been acting as directors in these companies.
“Of the 83 individuals, 58 were from the HSE, 23 of whom are still serving employees – however, the HSE could not say how many of the 25 Section 38 individuals are still employees in HSE-funded voluntary hospitals.
“This data must be provided once a more forensic review has taken place.
“The increasing over-reliance on outsourcing to private hospitals and other external companies must also be dealt with by government, as the Social Democrats have long argued.
“While this aim is referenced in the review, it appears to be purely aspirational – the report states that removing the health service’s dependency on outsourcing can only be achieved if the reform of elective care comes to fruition.
“That is why key Sláintecare elective care reforms must be accelerated.
“Four new elective-only hospitals were to be delivered by 2028, but this government is nowhere near meeting that target, with no planning applications submitted – in fact, the final business cases haven’t even been approved yet.
“All the while, the six new surgical hubs announced by the then-Minister for Health in 2023 have still not all been delivered – at the time, we were told that it would take 18 months to deliver these hubs.
“25 months on, only one of these new hubs has opened.
“If we are to end the health service’s overreliance on outsourcing, and indeed the NTPF, then these key elective care reforms must be delivered – otherwise, the creeping privatisation of our health service will only continue to increase.”
2nd July, 2025