THE BOARD of the Health Service Executive (HSE) is planning to resurrect its failed PPARS payroll system and launch a raft of major IT projects as it prepares to launch another cost-cutting drive.

Among areas targeted in the latest cuts, which will save almost €200m, will be staff travel and subsistence all­ow­ances, absenteeism and hospital power and heating.

Although the HSE officially stopped work on PPARS last July, its finance director Liam Woods told delegates at a health conference last week that it would be extended.

"PPARS is paying 37,000 people. It does work and we can do more with it. We've got 70,000 people in total in the HSE. It is a working piece of technology that does deliver money to the 37,000 employees," he said.

The PPARS extension will be just one of a number of major IT projects that will form part of the HSE's IT strategy, which is due to be published later this year.

Other measures include a national electronic prescription system, which will allow it to monitor the prescriptions issued by GPs, and electronic patient records.

"[The absence of these systems] creates a real difficulty in health planning terms. If we are to move towards disease management and prevention strategies, for instance, we need to know who and where the diabetic community in Ireland are and what service they're getting and what interventions they may need," said Woods.

A HSE spokesman told the Sunday Tribune electronic prescribing would form part of its IT strategy but denied PPARS would be revived.

The controversial computer was originally intended to cost €9m but that figure ballooned to €160m, including €60m in payments to consultants before the project was halted.

The spokesman said the HSE planned to replace PPARS with a modified version of an existing system from one of the former health boards.

The revelation of additional IT spending is likely to anger health service unions and patient groups.