Glynn move sparks fears of brain drain
CONCERN is growing that the departure of the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn will accelerate ‘a real flight of talent’ from the Department of Health.
The resignation of the favourite to replace Dr Tony Holohan as CMO has also sparked political concern over what one senior medical source termed the ‘systemic dysfunctionality within that department’.
Ministerial unhappiness is also growing over the series of controversies involving the department secretary-general Robert Watt.
Mr Watt is not being blamed for the departure of Mr Glynn, but there is unease about the number of public spats in which the secretary-general is becoming embroiled.
A senior Fianna Fáil source warned: ‘Mr Watt is attracting too much attention for his own good. Effective civil servants avoid becoming the story.’
An informed medical source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Morale, even for the Department of Health, is at an all-time low. You could hardly blame Ronan Glynn for leaving. The place is in a state of absolute chaos.’
Another minister said: ‘Ronan looked at the fate of Tony [Holohan] and decided that was enough. There is a queue of people preparing to leave.’ Senior figures including HSE chief operating officer Anne O’Connor, senior assistant secretary Fergal Goodman, and Sláintecare programme chief Laura Magahy, as well as Tony Holohan and now Ronan Glynn, have already left.
Commenting on the growing concerns about Mr Watt’s leadership of the department, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said: ‘Increasingly the question many people around the country are asking is, who is running the department, the minister or Mr Watt?’ ‘Robert Watt is in a rarefied position, not least because his pay grade is above the Taoiseach’s. Does that mean he can snub or thumb his nose at attending Oireachtas committees and decline to be held accountable for decisions he makes?’, said Ms Murphy.
The unease comes against a backdrop of rising concern that the departures of Mr Holohan and Mr Glynn have left Ireland ‘dangerously exposed’ should there be a return of a variant of coronavirus.