A lack of proper monitoring of hospital consultants has been highlighted by the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee in a new report into health spending.
The committee said the requirement that consultants limit their private work in public hospitals to 20% was breached in many instances.
It called for closer monitoring of the new consultants’ contracts, and of those who opt to remain under the old arrangement.
Deputy Bernard Allen, the chairman of the committee, said the effect of the lack of monitoring was a two-tier health system, where people able to pay could get treated quickly, while those who could not were the victims of ‘health apartheid’.
The Committee also raised questions about how almost 4,000 patients could be treated under the National Treatment Purchase Fund by the consultant who had that patient on his or her public waiting list.
Deputy Allen said there was no transparency about whether the taxpayer was getting value for money from this.
