The Taoiseach says any HSE staff spending public funds on five-star hotels should be told to give the money back.
Enda Kenny was responding to a leaked audit which criticised some HSE staff for excessive spending on travel and accommodation.
The audit was inadvertently circulated to all members of the Seanad by the HSE, which is currently working on its responses to the issues raised.
Among the items of spending it found are:
- One member of staff charged the service €300 for one night's accommodation in Dublin's Merrion Hotel
- Another charged the service €500 for one night's accommodation in Milan
- The HSE paid for flights to New York for the "personal guest" of a staff member attending a conference in the city. The personal guest shared a hotel room with the staff member in question.
Elsewhere the report takes issue with how one retired member of staff was re-hired on a six-hour-a-week contract - but paid a salary of €156,000 for the privilege.
While the Taoiseach has criticised the spending, other ministers have tried to see the upside from the developments - and to explain how such spending could arise.
Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News:
