Health boards should stop paying members' expenses instead of cutting jobs, a member of the Eastern Regional Health Authority has demanded.
"How can anyone stand over these job cuts when health board members' expenses are probably costing at least €2 million a year," said Dr Maurice Guéret, a Dublin GP.
He said he would be proposing at the next ERHA meeting that board members do not accept their expenses given the current difficulties in the health services.
It was "galling" that "junkets and conferences", mileage expenses, free meals and other "excesses" were tolerated when "savage job cuts" were planned.
"The hidden benefits of health board membership should be made clear to the taxpaying public who pick up the bill," he said.
His comments came as both SIPTU and IMPACT said they would resist the proposed 200 job cuts in the Western Health Board area. IMPACT demanded that the health board should not embark on any cuts ahead of extensive consultation. Its representatives will meet Western Health Board management early next week.
IMPACT's national secretary for health Mr Kevin Callinan said the board was "wrong to suggest you can slash administrative and managerial staff numbers without hitting services. Most administrative staff are dealing directly with the public or providing vital support to front-line care staff".
The cuts in administrative staff would mean that "doctors, nurses and other health professionals will end up spending more time on administration and clerical work instead of treating patients".
IMPACT represents more than 20,000 health workers including nurses, care workers and administrative staff.
Dr Guéret said his own expenses were about €65 a month, as he usually went only to the main meetings.
A lot of meetings of committees "are totally meaningless". He said he would be proposing at the next meeting that he would no longer accept expenses "and we'll see how many follow suit".
The ERHA member, a candidate in last month's Seanad election, believed there were some members whose "annual expenses cost their boards more than individual employees".
It was "galling" that some members, "mainly county councillors" were costing health boards between €12,700 and €25,400. Dr Guéret said health boards were run like "mini Dáils".
In many health board regions there was a separate secretariat whose sole job is to look after the needs of members. He said they were offered facilities not available to many employees.
In the ERHA region, he said, board meetings "seem to be held a long way from where core activity is. One meeting will be in Athy and the next in Swords and the only reason I can see for this is for mileage expenses."
Board members insisted on visits to health board facilities at least three times a week, he said. "It could be to a health board graveyard or a sterile equipment storage facility."
It would not be of consequence to core business but there would be more lunches and dinners and this all added to costs.
There were "oodles" of committees and the chair and vice-chair got generous allowances for these.
The politicians formed the majority on most health boards rather than the people involved in the health sector.
He was also angry about the discrepancies in board memberships. The Midland Health Board has 30 members on its payroll and a population of 200,000 while the South Western Area Health Board in Dublin, with a 500,000 population, has just 21 members.
