Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 10 July 2025
Public Accounts Committee
2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management
2:00 am
James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Therefore, this was a unique scenario.
To move on to another issue, we had the former CEO of Children's Health Ireland before this committee last week and she made clear that, in relation to her former position as CEO, she had been automatically given a contract of indefinite duration because of two five-year, fixed-term, consecutive contracts. The outworking of her asserting that legal right through a mediation process with the hospital, and, as I understand it, the Department of Health, was that the Department of Health had to write to the Department of public expenditure and reform seeking sanction for her to remain in a new role at precisely the same salary she would have had if she had remained on as CEO. How problematic is it that a Minister who is determined, against the wishes of the board, not to reappoint a CEO is essentially stymied? A new CEO can be appointed but the taxpayer has to ensure that whoever is taken out of the position has to stay on. Is this unique to CHI or does Mr. Moloney believe there are wider issues? There are over 900 non-commercial State entities, according to the CSO report in 2023. Could this affect hundreds of CEOs? What is his view on that?