Results 5,121-5,140 of 36,133 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

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

Pearse Doherty: Do you have the authority to dictate to the Health Research Board how its money is spent and to whom it goes? You do not have that authority. Can you not just accept that?

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

Pearse Doherty: You are not the Minister for Health and the latter did not even know of this letter when you signed and sent it.

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

Pearse Doherty: However, your letter had no approval either from the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the Minister for Health or the Government at the time you committed this funding. Is that a fact?

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

Pearse Doherty: Do you accept Maura Quinn's view that the Chief Medical Officer "should not have been exclusively personally involved in the negotiation of potential University Partners nor should any possible research funding have been linked to the possible secondment to a university"?

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

Pearse Doherty: Okay. You characterise this as a situation whereby if somebody wants to leave the public service, it is appropriate for him or her to talk to a university and say he or she is thinking of going there.

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

Pearse Doherty: That is your characterisation of it. However, that did not happen in this case. Tony Holohan wrote up the letter of intent. Tony Holohan negotiated with the university, and with you, the conditions in regard to his secondment. Is that normal practice for such negotiations? Ms Quinn's finding is that such persons should not be personally involved in the negotiation of personal university...

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

Pearse Doherty: Do you believe it is appropriate for somebody who is looking for a secondment away from a Department to negotiate with the receiving body and the Department on his or her terms and conditions and the salary and funding that would be paid from the Exchequer and would go along with the secondment?

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

Pearse Doherty: There was €2 million of funding involved. Tony Holohan wrote the letter setting out that there was €2 million of research funding to go along with his secondment. That was an enhanced package.

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

Pearse Doherty: It was linked to the package-----

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

Pearse Doherty: Exactly, and there was therefore a benefit for him in being able to take up a position. It was part of the overall package. Do you believe it is appropriate that somebody should be able to do that? The findings are that it is not appropriate. Do you reject recommendation No. 7 in the report?

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

Pearse Doherty: Recommendation No. 7 states: "No one individual should be personally and exclusively involved in any negotiation with third parties which involves the disbursement of state funds in which they have a potential personal interest."

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

Pearse Doherty: You disagree with the recommendation?

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

Pearse Doherty: The Minister agrees with the recommendation. The Government and the Taoiseach agree with the recommendation. As Secretary General of the Department of Health, will you confirm that you disagree with the recommendation?

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

Pearse Doherty: Will you implement this recommendation?

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

Pearse Doherty: The Government has already accepted the recommendation.

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

Pearse Doherty: You are at odds with it.

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

Pearse Doherty: If a new Tony Holohan came along and started emailing you asking you to sign a letter of intent that includes that person's secondment to a university for possibly the next ten years and, along with that, the Department potentially having to commit up to €20 million of State funding, will you not allow that to happen in the future, given recommendation No. 7?

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

Pearse Doherty: You are a former Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. Is committing up to €20 million of taxpayers' money something the Secretary General of the Department of Health can do or does it have to go through some process the Government approves?

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

Pearse Doherty: Okay, but that is not the question. The question is whether it needs Government approval.

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

Pearse Doherty: The intention was that this secondment would be made public before there was Government approval. Is that not the case? You had sanctioned this and the press release was to go out on 24 March. You make a big issue that the details were not worked out. Is it not your contention to the committee that the details were not worked out and it had to be fast-tracked? Indeed, the Department...