UL still pays HR boss who stepped down after audit
He gave wrong information to watchdog over payments
THE former University of Limerick Human Resources Director, who stepped down over a series of controversies, is still being paid by the university in a new role.
Tommy Foy gave inaccurate and incomplete information, four times, to the taxpayers’ watchdog over severance packages to staff, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed.
And UL’s auditors found that his actions could have damaged its reputation and its relationship with the watchdog, the Comptroller & Auditor General, which will issue a special report in early autumn.
The MoS can now reveal that Mr Foy, 56, who was on a salary of up to €150,000 a year as HR Director, is still being paid by UL.
Sources confirmed he has been ‘seconded for the foreseeable future’ to a role in UniJobs, a subsidiary jobs company of UL, which has also been the subject of controversy.
A UL spokesman told the MoS that they could not comment on the specifics of any new role Mr Foy may hold, or his remuneration.
UL president Dr Des Fitzgerald
‘I had the same provocative questions from the press’
confirmed that Mr Foy stepped down on Friday, July 6, and he wished him ‘every success in the future’.
Dr Fitzgerald outlined how a review ‘will lay the basis for the new HR strategy at UL’. When the university was asked if Dr Fitzgerald’s statement could be viewed as disingenuous, given Mr Foy’s new role, a UL spokesman said: ‘The president’s statement to the campus was accurate.’
When contacted by the MoS, Mr Foy promptly ended the phone call, and subsequent queries in writing were not responded to.
Whistleblower Leona O’Callaghan – who left UL’s finance department in 2012 after raising concerns about financial practices – wrote to Dr Fitzgerald this week seeking transparency over a number of UL employees who have been referenced in State-commissioned reports, including a report by Dr Richard Thorn.
However, Dr Fitzgerald referred to her queries as ‘provocative’, in his response. He emailed: ‘The issue of accountability is being addressed and it is in line with the recommendation of the Thorn Report. I cannot respond to questions about individual staff, nor do I believe you would want me to. I had the same provocative queries from the press and gave no comment.’
An Education Department spokesman said it has received no correspondence from UL on Mr Foy’s new role or any settlement package that might have been made.
According to the most recent filed accounts, Mr Foy remains a director of UniJobs. If he is paid directly by UniJobs, he would be required under company law to step down as a director. UL confirmed director’s fees are not paid to board members.