A Clare member of the Oireachtas Health Committee believes there are questions to answer as to why the Minister For Health wasn’t aware of the circumstances surrounding Dr Tony Holohan’s secondment until this week.
It comes as the Government has paused Dr Holohan’s appointment to a Professorship at Trinity College.
Speaking in Helsinki today, the Taoiseach put a pause on Dr Tony Holohan’s appointment to a Professorship at Trinity College.
Micheál Martin said there is merit to establishing the new role, but that there absolutely has to be full transparency about how it was done.
He’s requested a full report from the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who has asked head of the Department Robert Watt to report back in a few days.
The Taoiseach says it needs to be teased out further.
A Clare Government Senator believes the Health Minister should have been fully informed about the appointment.
The cabinet only learned on Tuesday the State would be picking up the bill for the new role, as well as funding a replacement CMO.
Dr Holohan met privately with the Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday, and Ennistymon-based Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway, who’s a member of the committee, says processes in the Department of Health need to be improved.
The report and reassessment into the role is expected before a meeting of Government party leaders on Monday.
