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MAURA QUINN, THE outgoing Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors, will oversee a review into the abandoned secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to an appointment at Trinity College.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly made the announcement today, a week after he ordered the review in a bid “to examine learnings and recommendations that could inform future such initiatives”.
In a statement, Donnelly said Quinn “has offered to carry out this review Pro Bono and will report back to me in June”.
“It is my intention to publish the report following its consideration,” he added.
The terms of reference for the external review are as follows:
Following controversy over the secondment, Holohan announced earlier this month that he would not be taking up the position as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership.
Holohan is still set to stand down as Chief Medical Officer in July.
The controversy was caused over the “open-ended” secondment, which was to be funded by the Department of Health, while Holohan was not expected to return to the role of CMO.
In a previous statement, Donnelly acknowledged there had been criticism that the Department of Health did not outline the full details of what was proposed when Holohan’s appointment was announced.
“The Department has accepted that the proposed arrangements should have been communicated earlier. The Department also acknowledges that there are lessons to be learnt,” he said last week.
Donnelly added that it is “fully appropriate” for there to be scrutiny of significant appointments and announcements.
“Such scrutiny should be devoid of personalised commentary directed at civil servants who are working in good faith with good intentions. We have a strong civil service in Ireland as evidenced throughout the pandemic and we should not lose sight of that,” he said.
Watt report
A report into Holohan’s secondment – which was written by Secretary General at the Department of Health Robert Watt – was provided to Donnelly, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister Eamon Ryan on 11 April, before being published.
Watt’s report stated that the Department considered the funding of Holohan’s post as “something that needed to be worked out, but that the Department of Health in progressing this important initiative would fund the role as part of a commitment to support research in this area”.
The report continued: “It was not explicitly stated but it was envisaged that this would involve competitive funding organised appropriately.
“The letter of intent therefore provided for Dr Holohan’s salary to be paid as part of a wider fund which it was envisaged could be administered by the Health Research Board, with details to be agreed between all three parties. It was never envisaged that this salary would be paid directly on the Vote of the Department of Health.”
The report also stated that Holohan advocated for the secondment arrangement, and that there was “nothing unusual or exceptional” about the potential arrangements.
The Health Minister was not informed about the “precise details” of the secondment because there was nothing unusual about it, and because there was no proposed change in Holohan’s conditions of employment, it added.
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You spend ages waiting on a bus and then 800 come along at once…
@The Alchemist’s Head: Rail seems to be the only way forward for inner city commuting. Its a logistical nightmare trying to set it up but I’d say its well worth it in the long run.
Great news but did I miss where the country has won the lottery recently? Where is all the money coming from? Or is it a case of when you are broke you might as well spend big?
@Bo bo: Interest rates are set at zero or negative by the European Central Bank and they are printing endless amounts of money for capital spending. The EU is providing lots of funds for green initiatives as well. There will never be a better time to do this.
@Bo bo: credit card!!
And where does the recharge power come from? Solar, wind, tidal? No, it would be fossil fuels.
This is window dressing.
@Fred the Muss…: Fossil fuel is being phased out rapidly. Moneypoint and coal will be gone by 2025.
@Fred the Muss…: The thousands getting hosed down by, & / or inhaling, diesel exhaust fumes daily probably won’t agree with that… besides, electric from renewables increasing every year – 15% in 2010, 33% in 2018, 37% in 2019. Compare that to the 15 years Euro 4 to Euro 6′s been around – zero improvements required re: CO2, & as for NOX – well, we all know how manufacturers have been getting around that.
@Fred the Muss…: yes Window Dressing that’s a great way of putting it, how the power is generated (electricity) and all the manufacturing processes especially the batteries the maintenance etcétera, then it has to start somewhere for it to develop
Good news for the environment but I wonder what the lasting impact of COVID on public transport will be. As someone sitting on a bus writing this right now it’s very hard not to view them as giant germ boxes with poor ventilation and inconsiderate fellow passengers. Will everyone who swapped the bus or train for the car over the past few months suddenly rush back after there’s a vaccine? I have my doubts.
@David Law: very simple. Your Leap card is replaced with the microchip you get as part of vaccination. You can’t get in the bus without the microchip.
@David Law: They will if the traffic is appalling.
How is the electricity required for the batteries produced?
@Claude Saulnier: How are the batteries actually produced ? Interesting to see how manufactured and recycled at scale when everyone drives electric
@Wadi:
‘We now have a contractual agreement with our cell manufacturers that they will use only green power to produce our fifth generation battery cells,’ BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bmw-electric-batteries/bmw-to-source-battery-cells-produced-using-renewable-energy-idUKKBN24114R
As for battery recycling, VW’s building a plant for that
https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2019/02/lithium-to-lithium-manganese-to-manganese.html
At what cost?
Don’t suppose any of these buses will be running all week so i can use them for work? or will it just be part time like the rest of them?
This looks like total greenwash as (It’s reported) the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel and all need to be recharged at night at the same time. A much cheaper and better solution would be to buy the sort of modern Trolleybuses that are used in 300 odd cities worldwide. Modern Trolleys have enough battery power to run 50 or 60 Km in town and recharge from the overhead wires while in use. They also have lowered floors like all other modern buses. Also the problems with the poles coming off the wires is largely solved now but most importantly they are POLLUTION FREE.
@mmz: ‘the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel’
Huh? This tender seeks buses with a 300kWh minimum battery. Think you’re confused with the hybrids.
Its a start but they will be refundant in 7/8 years with the batteries depleted and the cost of replacement prohibitive…..why are we once again the last country to look at hydrogen fuel cell technology…we should be following the advances made in Japan, Korea, China and Australia and adopt hydroggen for all HGV goods as well as promoting a whole new indusry for green hydrogen production….
have your say