New questions are being asked about a health website run by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) that no longer exists, but which cost the Irish taxpayer some €2.3 million.

The site, mygp.ie, was launched in 2004 by the then-Health Minister, Micheal Martin. Its aim was to answer patient queries and provide comprehensive information on primary and preventive healthcare.

State payments to the IMO to establish and maintain the website amounted to €996,000 from 2000 to 2001, €375,000 in 2002 and €660,000 in 2004. It did not receive anymore funding after 2004.

However, from the outset, there were concerns about how valid and up to date information on the site was. It was then taken offline in late 2007 amid doubts about its future and a dispute over further funding with the Department of Health and the HSE.

Furthermore, no details of how the €2.3 million was spent were ever made public as a result of a confidentiality agreement between the IMO and the Department of Health.

According to a report in the Independent, the way in which the money was spent is now set to be one of the areas investigated by an external inquiry, which is examining the finances and governance of the IMO over the last 20 years.

This major retrospective probe was prompted by the controversy surrounding the remuneration and settlement package for the IMO's former chief executive, George McNeice, who stepped down before Christmas with a settlement totalling nearly €10 million.