Heads of hospital groups to get €136,282 pay cap

The Department of Health has said people appointed to run the new public hospital groups will receive a maximum of €136,282 with no additional payments permitted.

The Department of Health and the HSE is expected to advertise for chief executives to run the new groups within the next fortnight or so.

Asked yesterday whether people appointed to run the new group would be entitled to hold on to additional salary on a personal-to-holder basis or be entitled to top-up payments or bonuses, the Department of Health said: “Appointees will not be entitled to receive any payment above the advertised pay scale for the post.”

Under reforms being introduced by the Minister for Health Dr James Reilly, the country's HSE and voluntary hospitals are being concentrated into six groups.

These will be centred on geographical regions: Dublin North East; Dublin Midlands; Dublin East; South/South West; West/North West; Midwest.

As the row over revelation of top-up payments made to senior voluntary hospital and health agency executives continued, two Oireachtas committee are set to launch investigations.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee is to call in the Department of Health and the HSE next Tuesday or Wednesday. It is also to look at seeking evidence directly from the chief executives and chairs of the board of individual voluntary hospitals and agencies.

Health Committee
Separately, the chairman of the Oireachtas Health Committee Jerry Buttimer said it was considering calling in the HSE and hospitals to examine issues such as governance, transparency and accountability in relation to the operation of their boards.

In addition to calling the director general of the HSE and the secretary general of the Department of Health to appear next week, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee is also to write to all Government Departments to ask if similar top-up arrangements apply in other parts of the wider public service.

Louth TD Ger Nash said the general public was "appalled" at what had been revealed in relation to the top-up paymentsmade to executives at voluntary hospitals and health agencies.

"These hospitals and other Section 38 agencies are recipients of substantial public funds. It is right and proper that they are answerable directly to the Dail Public Accounts Committee.

“Not only should we hear testimony from the Department of Health and the HSE, but I have also insisted that we seek the appearance of the hospital CEOs themselves and in particular the chairs of their boards before the Committee

“The boards are effectively responsible for setting certain aspects of pay policy and would have been central to the signing off of remuneration packages. It is crucial that we get answers from them.”

The HSE was still working on a report for the Government which is aimed at identifying whether individual voluntary hospitals and agencies are compliant with official pay policy in relation to executive remuneration.

It is understood that the HSE has been conducting a validation exercise on claims by agencies that they are operating in line with Government pay policy.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said those hospital that did not respond to the HSE inquiries on remuneration levels to the would be called in and called to account.

He said unauthorised and unapproved top-up payments from non-exchequer funding sources must and would stop.

Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn yesterday expressed his shock and surprise at the scale and amounts involved in the private top-up payments to a number of senior hospital and health agency executives

Mr Quinn said he fully supported Dr James Reilly when he said such payments would have to cease while he also backed comments by both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore criticising the practice.