Vincent’s claims to be in compliance with pay policy

The chairman of the St Vincent's Healthcare Group has said that technically it is complying with public service pay policy, as it understands it, in relation to the remuneration of senior executives.

Speaking after a meeting with the HSE director general Tony O'Brien this afternoon, Prof Noel Whelan said that various issues had arisen which he would be bringing back to the board of the St Vincent's Healthcare Group.

He said the hospital group would hold further talks subsequently with the HSE in the near future, perhaps over the weekend.

The HSE had sought the meeting with the St Vincent's Healthcare Group on foot of the disclosure just before Christmas that its chief executive, Nicholas Jermyn was receiving a public salary of €136,282 in addition to a privately funded payment of €136,951 and a privately sourced car allowance of €19,79.

The group had said that six executives overall were receiving payments that were higher than the amounts specified in the HSE’s official pay scales.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee is expected to question members of the board of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group about executive remuneration as well as governance issues at a meeting next Thursday.