A REPORT INTO Dr Tony Holohan’s appointment at Trinity College states that it is normal practice for the health minister not to be made aware of all the details of every secondment from the Department of Health.
The report was compiled by the Secretary General of the Department of Health, Robert Watt and given to the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly yesterday.
The report states that the secretary general of the department oversees a number of secondments every year, and the minister is not always informed of all the details.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said this morning that he had also received and reviewed the report but had not discussed it with the Taoiseach or Green Party leader Eamon Ryan.
On Saturday, Dr Holohan announced that he would now not be proceeding with the TCD role as a Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership.
He will still step down from his position as Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer as planned in July. Holohan will chair the new group that replaces the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) until that date.
It was reported last week that the new post was an “open-ended secondment” funded by the Department of Health under the same terms as Dr Holohan’s existing contract.
Recent reports show the CMO’s salary is around €187,000 per year.
There was confusion in recent days as to why the Department of Health would be paying the salary, with Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath stating last week that there were unusual characteristics to the secondment.
The Oireachtas Finance Committee intends to question the top civil servants on 27 April over how the appointment of Dr Tony Holohan was handled.
It is understood that Watt, alongside the secretary general in the Department of the Taoiseach Martin Fraser, will be among those asked to appear before the committee.
Government sources have said that it is not possible for a minister to be informed of everything within a department, such as secondments, but that it would have been prudent, though maybe not required, for Watt to inform his line minister of the secondment of such a high-profile figure, such as the chief medical officer.
Another said that the full report, when published in the coming days, will give the full picture of what took place.
Discussion at Cabinet
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he had received the report and would discuss it with Cabinet tomorrow.
He told reporters: “I want to make it very clear that people know the respect that I have for Dr Holohan, which goes back over a long number of years.
“What I said Sunday, again, applies. I find the entire situation that we’re in regrettable.
“I believe there should have been more transparency with this from the outset. I had a quick look at it last evening, I will study it in greater detail today, talk to my government colleagues in relation to it.
“But it is clear that the funding was to come from the Department of Health through to the Health Research Board, over which the salary would have been paid. I want to consult with my government colleagues first in terms of how we respond to the report.
“I think we have to be fair all around and I’m going to pre-empt anything like that,” he said.
Martin also rejected reports that his comment that the appointment should be “paused” led to Dr Holohan’s decision to step away from the role.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said today that it was a “real shame” that Dr Holohan would be leaving the public service.
“Hopefully he will find a way back to the public service in some way at some point in the future. The whole thing could have been handled a lot better, I think that is pretty obvious at this stage.
“I received the report last night, I had a chance to read it. It is quite short.
“I haven’t had a chance yet to discuss it with the Taoiseach, or Minister Ryan or Minister Donnelly so will probably do that today or tomorrow.”
With reporting by Press Association
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