A former top executive from Ryanair told the Health Service Executive (HSE) that the travel and expenses bill for staff was too expensive at €1,050 per staff member and should be drastically reduced.
Michael Cawley, who was appointed to the health service board last year, said a €91.3 million annual travel and subsistence bill was “too high” and that “much more control needed to be exercised by management.”
Mr Cawley, a former deputy chief executive of Ryanair, said the use of online conference platforms like Team and Zoom could be used to reduce the spend significantly.
In an email to fellow board members and HSE senior management, he wrote: “Preauthorisation of all travel by [management] together with a prohibition on foreign travel should yield considerable savings.”
The discussions took place earlier this year as the health service looked to cut costs with several areas of spending targeted for savings.
One of them was travel and subsistence with one senior official saying savings could be made by “applying existing rules rather than new rules or limits.”
Maurice Dillon, the national head for palliative care, wrote: “My sense is that they may not be applied consistently across disciplines, regions and line managers.
“For instance, if [an] employee uses their own vehicle where public transport could have been used, the amount of mileage should not exceed the cost of public transport.”
Another member of the HSE’s senior management team Patrick Lynch said the rule around “public transport before cars” needed to be reinforced.
Mr Lynch, national director for planning and performance, also recommended a reduction in the use of taxis or hotel venues for meetings unless they had prior authorisation.
He said there could be a reduction in foreign travel for conferences, and that a new process might be needed for “exceptional approvals.”
The HSE’s chief of technology Damien McCallion said there was more room for use of Microsoft Teams for meetings.
He also said that consideration could be given to the process for how travel was approved and what level of management did that.
An internal memo from February suggested that any travel expenditure which reached a certain ceiling in value should require prior approval from a line manager.
It said hotels that provided substantial business to the HSE should be approached about “a more competitive corporate rate” with new providers also offered a chance to tender for corporate business.
The memo said there should also be a conscious shift towards online meetings with a ratio of 75 to 25 suggested for virtual versus in person.
Another email pointed out that daily subsistence rates and overnight rates for staff had just been hiked across the public sector.
It said consideration should be given to a review of individuals to see if “claiming travelling expenses” was necessary.
However, it said it was important that cuts did not affect the level of training being provided to staff as it was “critical” that staff were developed continually.
Following the discussions, a memo issued from the HSE chief executive saying all non-clinical travel should be replaced whenever possible by virtual meetings.
It said: “Essential travel must be to the minimum with specific focus on use of public transport where possible.”
The memo said in-person engagement should be “at the minimum” and that accounting officers needed to closely examine travel and subsistence spending to see where savings could be made.
Asked about the records, a spokesperson said that since the end of the Covid pandemic, the HSE had been focused on pay and non-pay savings.
The spokesperson said: “[In February, the CEO] issued a further memo introducing new guidelines [and] restrictions designed to achieve a significant amount of non-pay savings and efficiencies.
“This was to ensure the best value for money and to drive a culture of improvement in how we manage public money in the public interest.”
