HOLOHAN ‘NOT DELAYING’ DEPARTURE
CHIEF Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, will not delay his departure from the Health Department following the surprise announcement by deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, that he is leaving to join a consultancy firm.
The Department of Health confirmed on Tuesday that Dr Glynn will leave his role as deputy Chief Medical Officer on May 31.
The news came just a few weeks after Dr Holohan’s abandoned appointment to Trinity College Dublin.
The CMO had been expected to move into a professorship role in the university but decided to retire from July 1 due to controversy over his appointment.
It was reported in the Irish Independent yesterday that Dr Glynn’s decision to leave the Department of Health would ‘likely’ lead to Dr Holohan ‘prolonging his stay in the Department of Health’.
However, a senior Government source told the Irish Daily Mail that they did not know where the suggestion came from.
‘Maybe a day or two beyond July 1 but I can’t see him staying on any longer than that,’ the source said.
The Irish Daily Mail understands that the CMO role will be advertised in the next day or two.
A Government spokesperson confirmed earlier this week that the post had not been advertised.
There is a different process for advertising deputy chief medical officer roles but it will be appointed through the Top Level Appointments Committee process.
The committee’s function is to recommend candidates to ministers and Government for the most senior positions in the civil service at assistant secretary level and upwards.
It is understood that news of Dr Glynn’s departure from the Department of Health did not come as a surprise.
Sources said that there was ‘intense scrutiny’ on Dr Glynn and, like Dr Holohan, he was receiving ‘phone calls in the middle of the night’ from people who disagreed with Covid-19 public health advice.
‘There’s only so long that can continue for,’ one person stated.