SINN FEIN’S HEALTH spokesperson has blasted Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and his top civil servant Robert Watt for declining an invitation to appear before the Finance Committee, which is investigating the now-axed secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to Trinity College.
It was reported this weekend that Donnelly and Watt are refusing to appear before an Oireachtas committee investigating the secondment of the chief medical officer.
In a statement, Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane said: “The now abandoned secondment of Dr Tony Holohan lacked transparency and raises serious questions about the reach of senior public servants on the one hand, and the lack of authority of the Minister for Health on the other.
“It is completely unacceptable that both the Secretary General of the Department and the Minister would not make themselves available to Oireachtas committees for scrutiny. This will only add further to the confusion and compound the absolute lack of transparency.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said today that Donnelly “has not refused to go before any committee”.
Donnelly, Martin said, has said that the external review of the matter should conclude before he goes before a committee. It must also be decided which committee would be “the most appropriate” for such a hearing to take place, he added.
“The minister said to me that he has no difficulty going before the health committee.
Aontú leader and committee member Peadar Toibin said yesterday that it was “absolutely incredible” that there was “no political oversight” on the decision.
“We have senior civil servants who are making these decisions without even having conversations with either the Taoiseach or the Minister for Health.”
Toibin said he had written to the chairperson of the committee, John McGuinness, to ensure both Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Donnelly were invited to come before the committee.
Dr Holohan will still step down from his position as Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer as planned in July.
In a statement earlier this month he said he would not be proceeding with the TCD role as a Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership.
“I do not wish to see the controversy of the last few days continuing. In particular, I wish to avoid any further unnecessary distraction that this has caused to our senior politicians and civil servants,” he said.
It was revealed 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.
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