Results 3,421-3,440 of 9,252 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Is it not the case that there will be a conflict of interest, however, if a senior civil servant is in negotiations with an intended seconder about the terms of his or her employment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Would they agree the terms? Would they negotiate the terms on behalf of-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 27/2021 states that secondments can only be for a maximum of five years, and this one clearly was not to be for that length of time. Was that not taken into account?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: What were the other examples of that type of secondment that were more than five years? Can Mr. Watt give us an example?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: For more than five years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Is it common for somebody to be seconded to a university for longer than five years though?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: But not for more than five years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Looking at Maura Quinn's report I thought that those secondments were for two and four years, respectively, but maybe I am wrong about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: We get to 25 February and Mr. Watt gives his formal support for this. Mr. Watt makes the point that there was an email from Dr. Holohan to the then Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach on 24 February. Ultimately a letter of intent was sent to Trinity College Dublin on 16 March and it set out the terms. Am I correct in saying Dr. Holohan wrote that letter of intent, Mr. Watt...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Was the draft shared with Mr. Fraser?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: There is one significant difference between the email to Mr. Fraser of 24 February and the letter of intent of 16 March and that is the funding. It went from €1 million to €2 million. How did that happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is stated in the letter of intent that the €2 million would be administered through the HRB. When did the HRB agree to that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is a separate body that was established by legislation in the 1960s. It has its own board and minutes. Mr. Watt is aware that the HRB was not particularly happy when it heard about this in April 2022.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Let us read what its minutes say. The minutes of the HRB state that it "was not involved in any discussion around this post" and the report states: "the HRB has rigorous and transparent policies and processes in place... [for] both application for, and assessment of, research awards." That sounds to me like they knew nothing about it and they were not particularly happy at the fact that they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Okay. We do not really have the full picture here. All of the communications from the Department of Health with Trinity were done through Dr. Holohan and we do not have access to those emails because it was done through his personal email. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Hold on. You are the Secretary General of the Department of Health. Surely you know if there are communications between the Department of Health and Trinity College in respect of this important secondment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Ms Quinn says it was all done by Dr. Holohan through his personal account and she did not have access to them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Does that not underline the sort of casual nature of this arrangement? Mr. Watt, do not be offended by this. It seems to underline that this was a very casual arrangement where the person who was benefiting from the secondment was doing the negotiations on his own behalf, and everything seemed to have been approved without it going through what appeared to be the process as provided for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: I have a few more questions and I will be finished with you then. In your briefing note to the Taoiseach on 11 April, Mr. Watt, you say expressly: “It was not explicitly stated but it was envisaged that this would involve competitive funding organised appropriately.” When you look at the letter of intent, the Department of Health is committing €2 million and there is no...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Secretary General of the Department of Health (19 Apr 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: So you do not think there is any inaccuracy in the statement that you made to the Taoiseach on 11 April 2022, when you said it would involve competitive funding, when the letter of intent, which is agreed and signed, expressly says the Department is committed to €2 million.