Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I find it hard to believe. If a person's name is on the front of a national paper with regard to pay and conditions, I would assume that person would have read it. If Mr. Watt has not read it, then I suggest it is worth reading, because it was certainly a factor when preparing for this meeting. I have had many emails and phone calls from people at various management levels in the HSE and I have a number of questions that I wish to ask Mr. Watt. Mr. Watt and Mr. Reid have repeatedly been made aware that a group of senior management personnel in the HSE and voluntary hospitals have been unjustly picked out for unfair treatment, by the continued withholding of a pay award under report 42 of the review body on higher remuneration, which dates back to 2007. The award was approved by the Government and subsequently sanctioned by the Department of Finance, but it was withheld from this group when all others in local government, An Garda Síochána and across the board received this pay grade. How can the witnesses stand over this injustice when the very same report specifically said that neither the pay of the HSE's chief executive or the Secretary General of the Department of Health merited being any higher than they were then? We saw Mr. Watt get a pay hike of €81,000 when it was said that no more was needed.