The Health Service Executive (HSE) today confirmed it is awarding the contract to manage the repayment of nursing home charges to a consortium comprising KPMG Chartered Accountants and McCann FitzGerald Solicitors.
The announcement was made this lunchtime amid concern that KPMG planned to outsource much of the work to India.
HSE statement
According to a report in this morning's Irish Timesthe company told the HSE it planned to outsource the scanning of nursing home records to India, but it appeared that under EU tendering procedures this is not permitted if it can be done in the EU.
However, in statement this afternoon the HSE said the tender process was carried out "in full compliance with EU directives".
"There is no EU law requirement for sourcing within the EU. Media reports in this regard - relating to the outsourcing of data scanning of information - are therefore inaccurate," the statment said.
Preparatory work by the consortium is already under way, and the HSE said it would begin processing repayments, which are expected to cost about €1 billion, from mid-July.
In a short statement issued through a Public Relations company this evening, KPMG and McCann Fitgerald confirmed that some of the work would be carried out in India.
"An element of the process - the inputting of scanned documentation onto a data capture system - will be carried out in India.
"This has been fully recognised within the contractual agreement signed with the HSE, and strict protocols will be put in place throughout the system to ensure full data protection," the statement said.
