The head of the Department of Health has criticised the “factual inaccuracies” of recent reporting regarding the claims of a whistleblower and denied that “anything underhand” has happened.

Secretary-general Robert Watt has written to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to “clarify” his department’s position regarding some of the matters raised by the whistleblower.

Whistleblower Shane Corr had alleged, using transcripts and recordings of internal departmental meetings, a number of issues between the department and the HSE, including the suggestion that a large-scale adjustment would be necessary for the executive’s 2020 accounts and that the HSE’s recruitment targets are only half of what they had been budgeted for.

Mr Watt said that the transcripts, which first emerged over the course of two weekends in the Business Post and detail a number of recordings of internal departmental meetings, were made and released without the knowledge of the officials in question, and that “this has led to partial statements that were taken out of context and also contained some factual inaccuracies”.

Separately, the department has responded strongly to the second series of reports in the Business Post stating that recording officials without their consent or knowledge “is a direct violation of individual privacy”.

“The department strongly believes that quoting the casual comments of individuals will only serve to limit constructive debate and dialogue across the civil service and this is...

Read Full Story: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40812612.html