Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

As I stated, under the Health Act 2004, I do not have any role in recruitment. The search company engaged interviewed or met more than 25 persons from around the world and more than 100 people expressed an interest of some form in the position. A cap of €37,000 was imposed on the costs of the recruitment process for the company in question and I understand the final figure will be lower than that. The matter is one for the board of the HSE. Its chairman informed me last week that it was intended to have identified a successful candidate in June. The salary is, as recommended, in line with the salary of the Secretaries General to the Departments of the Taoiseach and Finance. By international standards, this is not considered a high salary in this area of responsibility.

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