Former CRC chief says donations were not transferred directly to executive salaries

The former chief executive of the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) Brian Conlan has said it is inaccurate to suggest that money donated by the public was transferred directly into salaries of senior executives at the organisation.

In a statement given to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) before appearing before it today, he said he wanted to address the public perception that charitable donations were siphoned off specifically to pay for additional salary allowances for executives. He said that was never his understanding in relation to how funds were managed.

“The CRC pools all its revenue from many sources each year into one fund and applies them jointly to the central overheads which includes some salary allowances. Of course, all monies received by CRC is public monies of one form or another and there is no support for salary payments in excess of HSE pay scales – but I think the idea that there was a transfer of monies from public donations directly into the salaries of a number of executives is inaccurate in itself.”

Board member
Mr Conlan resigned as chief executive of the CRC in December amid controversy both over salary levels paid to executives in the organisation and the manner in which he had been appointed. The HSE had raised questions about the process the led to his appointment without a public competition. Mr Conlan had been a CRC board member prior to his appointment as chief executive.

Mr Conlan said in his statement to the PAC that he was not responsible for his appointment to the top position and was not responsible for the level of salary he was offered.

He said when the post of chief executive of the CRC became available last April he felt he was "very qualified to apply" as he had served on the board of the organisation for eight years and had run the Mater Hospital for several years.

“I enquired of the then chairman [of the CRC] whether as a member of the board I could apply as an internal candidate. When he indicated that I could, I formally removed myself from any involvement and discussion on the recruitment process and formally applied for the position to Amrop Strategis, the external recruitment consultancy appointed to manage the process.”

He said on his appointment he became aware that the HSE had issues with the salary to apply to the position and he set about establishing a pay scale for the post.

Remuneration rules
Meanwhile, the St Vincent's Healthcare Group has said that it is willing to adapt its current arrangements for paying its senior executives in an attempt to reach an agreement with the HSE on compliance with public service remuneration rules .

In a statement to the PAC ahead of its meeting today, the chairman of the group, Prof Noel Whelan, said that it was in discussions with the HSE, which it hoped would lead to an agreed process but there were complex issues to be worked out. He said the group had to ensure that the law was upheld.

“Subject to the early successful outcome of the process, the net result should be that there will be no pay compliance issues with the HSE, the salary of the group chief executive officer will be paid entirely from funds generated by the private hospital and the roles of group chief executive and chief executive of St Vincent’s University Hospital will not be occupied by the same manager,” he said.

Just before Christmas the St Vincent's Healthcare Group confirmed its chief executive, Nicholas Jermyn, was receiving a total package of more than €292,000 a year.