Dail Report: The Government does not intend "dumping" the PPARS computer system, which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said had cost €116 million to the end of last year and would cost another €55 million to complete. A review of the system is under way.
The Personnel, Pay and Relative Systems system was originally planned in 1998 to do payroll for the health boards and was to cost €9 million, but Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny described the overspending on the unfinished project as "the daddy of them all".
During noisy Dáil exchanges he asked the Taoiseach yesterday: "How the hell did your Government spend €150 million on this botched project, and how did you as Taoiseach, with three ministers for health over the past seven years, preside over this scandalous episode of Government incompetence?".
Mr Ahern rejected the Fine Gael claims on cost and said the initial plan for a payroll system developed into a much larger "entirely different" system.
"The deputy's suggestion that the projected cost of the system increased from €10 million to €150 million is erroneous, not true, unfair, incorrect and should not be entertained."
Consultants, the Hay organisation, estimated a cost of €95 million, for a payroll of €7 billion and about 140,000 employees, Mr Ahern said.
"The Hay organisation said that a reduction in absenteeism would lead to savings of €56 million a year. After two or three years, the savings would be worth more than the entire cost of the system."
Asked who was responsible, Mr Ahern said: "The 11 health boards found that they could not put a payroll system together".
Mr Kenny said it was well known that the Taoiseach had "a history of signing blank cheques. The latest episode of the blank cheque written for the PPARS system is your most spectacular to date, at least of those we know about".
He said the system, set up in 1998 with a budget of €9 million, had cost €150 million to date, of which €70 million was paid to consultants, and "I understand that €50 million was paid to one consultancy firm".
"In one instance €1 million was paid into an employee's account, and overpayments had been made to other staff for a number of weeks."
However, the Taoiseach hit back at Fine Gael and said: "I know the sums sometimes come as a problem to Deputy Kenny, but can I say it was never intended that the system would cost €10 million."
Mr Kenny retorted that "at least I did not falsify my degree".
Mr Ahern said Deloitte & Touche did not get the money just for consultancy. It implemented the system, trained 140,000 staff and "tried to put the entire system together".
He said the estimate was €95 million, but €116 million was spent up to the end of last year. It would cost another €55 million, over €20 million of which would be a staff cost, to finish the system in its entirety."
Labour's deputy leader Liz McManus criticised Minister for Health Mary Harney's record after a year in office. Ms McManus claimed Ms Harney "promised to deal with the accident and emergency crisis. It is now worse than ever. She promised 30,000 full medical cards, but not one of those cards has been issued. She promised 200,000 GP-only cards, which were to be provided last April. Not one of those cards has been issued."
Mr Ahern, however, praised the Minister for making changes. "She introduced the changes on childcare, on mortgages and on net pay," he said.
"They allow people who would never have got them to get medical cards. The deputies protest because they do not like to see excellent reforms."
