The Medical Council sought prior sight of its audit certificate from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). The certificate referenced a significant breach of public procurement policy.
On 10 June 2025, the Council’s audit and risk committee (ARC) heard that the 2024 financial statements had been cleared by the C&AG’s audit team for sign-off. According to ARC meeting minutes, the C&AG’s Office had indicated it was likely the audit certificate would reference issues associated with the Council’s procurement of services from Ms Yvonne Clancy/Empowering Leadership Ltd.
The committee “deemed it not unreasonable” that the Council be given advance notice of the proposed wording and “requested the executive to engage with the Office of the C&AG” in that regard. The committee noted that this issue could give rise to media coverage, stated the minutes released under Freedom of Information law.
A spokesperson for the Office of the C&AG confirmed that the Medical Council had requested sight of the audit certificate in advance. The wording (as appears in the published audit certificate) was provided.
The C&AG’s report to the Oireachtas, dated 27 June 2025, noted: “The statement on internal control discloses that in 2024 the Medical Council incurred significant expenditure where the procedures followed did not comply with public procurement guidelines.”
According to the Council’s financial statements, it identified “procedural control weaknesses” in relation to the engagement (initial appointment and subsequent extensions) of consultancy services from Ms Clancy through her company Empowering Leadership.
In 2022, Ms Clancy was engaged for a period of six months under a “sole source justification”. Initially, this was for human resources consultancy for “urgent operational needs”. She also supported an organisational design project. Due to “urgent and evolving” business needs, the engagement was extended into 2023 and 2024.
A formal tendering process, or other appropriate procurement process, was not utilised in accordance with procurement legislation and with the Council’s procurement policies and procedures. The Council’s non-compliant extension of the services resulted from a “series of unforeseen circumstances, ongoing organisational changes, and urgent resource needs”.
In 2024, following an internal recruitment competition for an interim CEO, Ms Clancy was selected as the preferred candidate. She held this position from 20 September to 6 December 2024. Ms Clancy was paid on an invoice basis and charged “under business consultancy under a contract for service”. The payment included VAT at 23 per cent.
The cost of the interim CEO’s salary from 20 September to 6 December 2024 was €49,077. During this time, Ms Clancy received no additional payment over and above the previous rate for her services, a Medical Council spokesperson told the Medical Independent. Ms Clancy ceased working with the Council at the end of 2024.
The total amounts paid to Empowering Leadership were €45,756, €240,650, and €268,171 for 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively. There is no suggestion that Ms Clancy had any role in decisions around the procurement of her services.
The Council has revised its procurement policies to ensure “alignment with public procurement requirements”, according to its financial statements.
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