Treating more private patients than public ones
Give me cash 
34 consultants in Ireland were investigated last year after the HSE discovered that they were treating more private patients than public ones.
The health minister James Reilly has revealed that 34 consultants on the payroll of the public health services have been reprimanded for building up workloads where they treated more patients in their private practices than public patients.
The consultants’ employers engaged with the consultants after it emerged that they were in breach of official rules on public-private treatment ratios, which oblige most consultants to limit their private consultancies to 30 per cent of their total workload.
In 32 cases, the matters were resolved to the satisfaction of the Health Service Executive – but in two cases consultants who did not reduce their private ratio to an acceptable deemed acceptable by the HSE had their private practice rights suspended.
“In line with the terms of the contract, one of these consultants has remitted the excess private fee income into a research and study fund in the hospital concerned,” Reilly said.
The HSE’s investigations follow rules introduced in 2008 which meant that newly-appointed consultants were told they could only spend 20 per cent of their time treating patients on a private basis.
Consultants who were on contract before 2008 were allowed to maintain their previous ratio of 30 per cent.
In a written response to Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher, Reilly said the HSE was now proceeding to take action against consultants in breach of the 30 per cent ratio.
The minister said the HSE’s engagement with consultants and medical unions had resulted in a “significant improvement in the level of compliance with the public practice rules”.
Records published last year showed that over 700 public patients had been referred to the National Treatment Purchase Fund by consultants acting in a public capacity – only for the patient to then be referred to the same consultant on a private basis.
This was despite NRPF rules stipulating that patients whose private healthcare bills were being covered by the fund should not be treated by the same consultant doctor who had seen them through the public system.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows finally that, Ireland is popular once again
New statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that visitor numbers to Ireland have increased for the first time since 2007.
The CSO recorded an descent eight per cent increase in overseas visitors for 2011, compared to number of people who came to our shores in 2010. Finally, our tourism is back on track. Either that, or people who have emigrated are just coming back for regular visits.
Leo Varadkar, Minister for Transport, is certainly one happy camper. Commenting on the news of an increase, Leo said, “While the return to growth in 2011 was welcome we still have to fight hard for Ireland’s share of global tourism spending”.
The number of people from Britain visiting Ireland was up 5 per cent in 2011, while visits from the rest of Europe were up by 12 per cent compared to 2010.
Visits from the US were up 5.5 per cent while Australian visits were up by 12.2 per cent (unsurprisingly).
However, Tim Fenn, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has made some warnings on the stability of the tourism sector at the moment. “Recovery in tourism is still fragile and businesses in the sector remain very sensitive to increases in costs despite the very welcome Government initiatives such as the reduction in VAT and PRSI rates,” he told the Irish Examiner.
The visitors might be rolling in, but us Irish are staying put. The number of Irish heading away on holidays was down by 4.2 per cent, compared to 2010 (when we all thought there was still a bit of money left).
€645m saved through good social welfare ‘control measures’ in Ireland
€645 million 
THE department of Social Protection has reported savings of over €645 million following a comprehensive review of welfare payments and a renewed clampdown on fraudulent claims.
Joan Burton says the savings follow a review of 982,000 individual welfare claims for social welfare payments, and significantly exceeded the target of €540 million set this time last year.
Included in the savings are over €60 million saved in anti-fraud measures after investigations by the Department’s new Special Investigation Unit, which received almost 17,000 tip-offs last year.
Burton said over 30,000 fraud investigations and inquiries have been completed, with 174 cases referred to Gardaí for possible investigation under the Criminal Justice (Theft & Fraud Offences) Act.
The Department said in a statement that special projects “such as non-residency and multiple claiming … have been particularly successful”.
A breakdown of the overall €645m savings showed that €167 million of spending was cut under the one-parent family benefit, and €142 million from pensions.
€88 million was saved through a review of child benefit, and another €82 million was cut in jobseekers’ allowances and benefits.
Burton said the savings showed “our commitment to tackling fraud and abuse of the social welfare system across our broad range of schemes.”
The €645 million figure reflects the Department’s expectations as to how much it would have spent on benefits, over time, but for the new investigations. It is not an annual figure.
“A key priority for my Department is to ensure that fraudulent activity within the social welfare system is vigorously prevented and combated,” Burton said.
“Social welfare fraud undermines public confidence in the entire system as well as being unfair to other recipients of social welfare payments, taxpayers and businesses run on a legitimate basis.
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