LAST UPDATE | 11 Apr 2022

HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has received a report on the abandoned secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to an appointment at Trinity College.

The report was compiled by the Secretary General of the Department of Health, Robert Watt.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “Minister Donnelly has this evening received a detailed briefing document from his secretary general and is currently reviewing it.”

The Minister plans to publish the report as soon as possible. 

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.

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 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 health minister defended the appointment, stating that the salary would be paid from public money. However, it is understood that the salary could have been paid through grants that could be applied for through an agency of the department.

Micheál Martin said yesterday: “I think fundamentally lessons have to be learned here, but I think transparency from the outset would have been appropriate, particularly in relation to all of the aspects of this.

“I think it’s regrettable given the fact that Tony has played a very strong role in terms of bringing us through the pandemic.

“I think there has to be full transparency in relation to all of these issues.”