The Secretary General of the Department of Health was grilled on the matter by an Oireachtas committee.
Secretary General of the Department of Health Robert Watt has been accused of “breathtaking arrogance” over his handling of the proposed Trinity secondment for Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan.
Holohan and Watt both appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday (4 May) to answer questions on the controversial matter.
Earlier in the year, it was announced that Dr Holohan would be stepping away from his position as CMO to take on a new role as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership at Trinity.
However, the move raised eyebrows when it was revealed the Department of Health would fund the move under the same pay and conditions as his existing contract, leading to Holohan deciding to no longer proceed with the role.
In his opening address to the Oireachtas committee, Watt said it was a “matter of regret” that the proposal is not going ahead.
“I believe this important work would have benefitted greatly by being led by Dr Holohan,” he stated.
“I believe when we conceived this proposal that it was essential that we continue to harness Dr Holohan’s knowledge and skills in the public interest.
“I regret that this no longer will be possible.”
Later during the committee meeting, Watt was grilled by Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane on the matter.
Cullinane questioned whether Health Minister Stephen Donnelly knew when he appeared on RTÉ Morning Ireland to discuss the secondment on 6 April that Watt had already committed €2 milion worth of funding from the Health Research Board to Trinity.
Watt responded that he did not believe Donnelly was aware at the time.
“That’s a really substantial omission, Mr Watt,” Cullinane said in response.
“You were committing €2 million funding from the Health Research Board to Trinty College… that you did not get any ministerial approval for, that you did not inform the Minister about, that you did not inform this committee about.
“I have to say Mr Watt, this is breathtaking arrogance that a Secretary General would sign off on the spend of €2 million without seeking… any approval whatsoever from a Minister or from Government.
“I have to say, this is breathtaking arrogance.”
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane didn’t hold back when addressing Robert Watt over his role in Tony Holohan’s proposed role with Trinity College this morning… 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZO1CnoEhfB
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) May 4, 2022
“That you think that you have the authority to spend €20 million potentially of tax payers money without any approval – actually commit to it in writing to a third level institution – without any ministerial approval and not even to inform the Minister when he was doing media on the issue.”
In response, Watt said he did not approve the spending.
“Ultimately, if the money was to be spent as from (20)23 onwards, it would have to be included in the estimates process.
“So, there’s no basis upon which I can approve spending… without the approval of the Minister.
“This spending wasn’t approved or sanctioned. There was no spending here.
“It was a commitment and the details had to be worked through.”
In response, Cullinane said the Government could not have senior civil servants committing tax payers’ money “without any democratic oversight”.
Later during the meeting, Holohan was asked if the last number of weeks had left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Obviously, I’d prefer if it didn’t happen. If it hadn’t happened that way,” the CMO replied.
Main image via Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
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