Watt’s ‘regret’ over Holohan non-move
Top mandarin to explain proposed CMO secondment
ROBERT Watt, the secretary general of the Department of Health, will speak today of his ‘regret’ that the appointment of Dr Tony Holohan to an academic role is not proceeding.
Mr Watt will appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee
this morning to explain the proposed move of Dr Holohan, the outgoing chief medical officer, to a professorship at Trinity College, which ultimately proved to be ill-fated.
Dr Holohan, who will now leave the public service later this year, will appear before the committee alongside Mr Watt.
When the move was initially announced, it failed to mention crucial details about how it would be funded.
It subsequently emerged that Dr Holohan would be ‘seconded’ from the Department of Health, which would continue to pay his €187,000 salary. It also emerged that the role would cost the Department some €2million per annum, with Trinity incurring no cost.
In his opening statement to the committee, seen by the Irish Daily Mail, Mr Watt will say that he believed ‘when we conceived this proposal that it was essential that we continued to harness Dr Holohan’s knowledge and skills in the public interest and I regret that this will no longer be possible’.
He will also tell the committee that he believed the proposed new role ‘was in line with the Government’s commitment to investing in public health, as outlined in the Programme for Government’.
‘As such, and as required, funding of research in this regard by the Department would form part of the normal Estimates process, subject to ministerial and Cabinet approval,’ he will say.
Dr Holohan decided against taking up a proposed secondment to Trinity after a dispute over the transparency of the process that would have seen the State pay his annual salary of €187,000 through competitive research funding, reportedly to be administered by the Health Research Board. However, the board later said it was not consulted.
Mr Watt is to tell the committee that after initial discussions with Dr Holohan in August last year about his future, the proposal for a professorship ‘emerged’, with the aim of keeping Dr Holohan’s ‘experience and skillset’ within the public service.
On February 25, Dr Holohan requested Mr Watt’s support to progress a secondment to a Dublin university, according to Mr Watt.
‘Given his long and distinguished service, and the crucial knowledge and ability he brought to bear in the pandemic, I felt it was equally important that Dr Holohan’s expertise be retained and utilised in the public sector,’ he will tell the committee.
A letter of intent was issued to Trinity College on March 16 with draft details of the proposal, with further details to be arranged between Trinity College and the Department of Health, Mr Watt is to say.
‘The Department considered that the funding of Dr Holohan’s post was something that needed to be worked out, but that the Department would support the development of this innovative approach to progressing an important initiative through dedicated additional research funding.’
Dr Holohan will vacate the role of CMO from July 1.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn will stand in as acting CMO from then until the role is filled.
Last month, Mr Watt was accused of ‘incredible arrogance’ by Social Democrats co-leader and member of the committee Róisín Shortall over his defiance about his handling on the appointment and his failure to notify Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
A report by Mr Watt, prepared at the request of the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, states that he did not believe he was required by law to notify Mr Donnelly about the move.
Mr Watt was appointed to the role in April 2021 amid controversy around its €292,000 salary.
The wage is higher than any other secretary general role in any other Government department.
‘Funding needed to be worked out’