Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ar mo shon féin agus ar son pháirtí Fhine Gael, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Seanadóir nua, Tom Clonan. Cuirim fíorfháilte roimh a bhean chéile, Aideen, a chlann agus a chairde agus déanaim comhghairdeas leo. Is lá iontach, lá ceiliúrtha agus lá bródúil é seo. Cuirim fíorfháilte roimh an Seanadóir.

On my behalf and that of the Fine Gael Party, I congratulate our new Senator, Tom Clonan, and welcome him here. I pay tribute to him on his victory in the Seanad by-election and congratulate all the candidates on a competitive by-election, as noted by Senator Chambers. I pay tribute to Tom's family and friends, who are here today. We can all learn from his social media videos and he will see plagiarism at its best in the next general and Seanad elections. We look forward to working with him during his tenure in Seanad Éireann. Today is an important day for the Clonan family and I hope they enjoy and savour it. We have all had the pleasure of a first day in Seanad Éireann and the collegiality he experiences today will continue. We look forward to working with Senator Clonan.

I might end the collegiality at this point by asking that the Deputy Leader invites the Ministers for Health and Public Expenditure before us to explain how it is that the position of the public health strategy leadership professorship in Trinity College Dublin, TCD, is being funded by the taxpayer and the State. I congratulate the outgoing Chief Medical Officer and I take no issue with his appointment to the job or him personally. This afternoon in the Dáil the Taoiseach said he had "no hand, act or part" in the secondment of Dr. Tony Holohan to the position in TCD. Who had such an input? How did it happen and why? How is it the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, had no hand, act or part in that process? Who did? Who said it is okay for the outgoing Chief Medical Officer - I will not personalise the matter - to go on secondment to Trinity College and for this to be paid for by the taxpayer via the Department of Health? Who signed off on that and why?

We need a debate on the role of the Chief Medical Officer after this appointment. Will it be an acting Chief Medical Officer position? Will it be for a particular period? Will the post be advertised and will the new person in the role be the Chief Medical Officer of the country? This is recognising that we have just come from the teeth of a pandemic. Again, I pay tribute to the current Chief Medical Officer for his work, the advice he gave to the Government and the tremendous job he did. My remarks should not be taken as personal in any shape or form. I hope we can have this debate as a matter of urgency.