HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has ordered an external review into the abandoned secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to an appointment at Trinity College “to examine learnings and recommendations that could inform future such initiatives”.
It comes after the report into Dr Holohan’s secondment, written by Secretary General at the Department of Health Robert Watt, was published by the Department of Health.
In a statement, Donnelly acknowledged there had been criticism that the Department did not outline the full details of what was proposed when it was announced.
“The Department has accepted that the proposed arrangements should have been communicated earlier. The Department also acknowledges that there are lessons to be learnt,” he said.
I am initiating a review, having regard to the process of the proposed secondment of the Chief Medical Officer and research proposal, to examine learnings and recommendations that could inform future such initiatives. I am appointing an external expert to carry out this review.
Donnelly added that it is “fully appropriate” for there to be scrutiny of significant appointments and announcements.
“Such scrutiny should be devoid of personalised commentary directed at civil servants who are working in good faith with good intentions. We have a strong civil service in Ireland as evidenced throughout the pandemic and we should not lose sight of that,” he said,
Watt’s report was provided to Donnelly on Monday, alongside the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister Eamon Ryan.
Report
It states that the Department considered that the funding of Dr Holohan’s post was “something that needed to be worked out, but that the Department of Health in progressing this important initiative would fund the role as part of a commitment to support research in this area.”
It was not explicitly stated but it was envisaged that this would involve competitive funding organised appropriately. The letter of intent therefore provided for Dr Holohan’s salary to be paid as part of a wider fund which it was envisaged could be administered by the Health Research Board, with details to be agreed between all three parties. It was never envisaged that this salary would be paid directly on the Vote of the Department of Health.
It states that Dr Holohan advocated for the secondment arrangement, and that there was “nothing unusual or exceptional” about the potential arrangements.
The Health Minister was not informed about the “precise details” of the secondment because there was nothing unusual about it, and because there was no proposed change in Dr Holohan’s conditions of employment, it states.
It also states that in seeking to take up the post at Trinity, Dr Holohan “simply desired to preserve his existing terms and conditions and it was felt that this could be best initially achieved by means of a secondment which would be in line with the principles of the Guidelines on Secondment in the Civil Service.
“Dr Holohan was himself anxious not to make it a time limited secondment given his wish, which was shared by the Department, that his successor as Chief Medical Officer would not be in any sense constrained by any impression that his/her appointment was temporary or conditional upon the return of Dr Holohan.”
Watt states in the report that he is satisfied that the policy approach and process were appropriate in the circumstances, and that all those involved entered discussions in good faith with the objective of advancing a clear public policy goal.
He states it is “disappointing” that some commentary alleges that he failed to keep Donnelly informed of the arrangements.
The Minister was informed of the proposal for Dr Holohan to take up a Professorship at TCD in advance of the announcement and was supportive. Indeed, the Minister has made that clear publicly. The Minister was not involved in the specific terms of the arrangements. This is, I believe, appropriate given the division of responsibilities, legislative provisions, custom and practice and normal administrative arrangements.
The report concludes that elements of the secondment were not communicated well and there are learnings for the Department in respect to this, adding that the Department has made no effort to conceal the secondment, as some reports have suggested.
Following controversy over the secondment, Holohan announced on Saturday that he would not be taking up the position as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership at Trinity College Dublin.
Holohan is still set to stand down as Chief Medical Officer in July however.
The controversy was caused over the “open-ended” secondment, which was to be funded by the Department of Health, while Holohan was not expected to return to the role of Chief Medical Officer.
Following the botched appointment, the Oireachtas Finance Committee intends to question some top civil servants on 27 April over how the appointment of Holohan was managed.
It is understood that Watt, as well as Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach, Martin Fraser, will be among those asked to appear before the committee.
The Taoiseach previously said that there should have been “more transparency” behind the appointment “from the outset”.
With reporting by Christina Finn and Jane Moore
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say