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LAST UPDATE | 17 Apr 2023
HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has said there are “very clear lessons to be learnt” following the publication of a report into the secondment of former chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Tony Holohan to Trinity College Dublin.
The report concludes that he should not have been involved in aspects of the move.
Holohan had been due to take up a position with TCD on secondment. However, the proposed move collapsed after controversy emerged about how the position had come about.
The CMO then took the decision to retire from his role.
In its conclusion, the report states that the CMO should not have been exclusively personally involved in the negotiation of research funding linked to his possible secondment.
The controversy initially erupted after it was revealed that Holohan’s position would not be paid by Trinity College and he would instead continue to be paid by the Department of Health.
The Department initially said that Holohan’s new role would be an “open-ended secondment” and defended it as being in “the public interest” due to the skills he could bring to the third-level sector.
The open-ended nature of the secondment had raised questions in particular, as they are typically only a temporary transfer of an employee to another organisation.
After questions were raised by politicians and commentators over the secondment, then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin called for the appointment to be paused before Holohan confirmed he would not take up the position.
There had previously been criticism of Department of Health Secretary General, Robert Watt, over his role in the appointment, with TDs accusing him of “seriously mishandling” the proposed secondment.
Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane said that Watt had “lost the run” of himself and that he had planned to seek “retrospective approval” after committing to providing the funding.
Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall was also critical, describing it as a “serious mishandling of this proposal”.
The independent report was initially commissioned by Donnelly to “examine learnings and recommendations that could inform future such initiatives”, after Watt had completed an internal report.
The report adds that the “absence of any consultation with the Health Research Board (HRB) from the outset, on the proposed research funding element is a deficit as is the lack of detail on the governance over the proposed funding to Trinity College Dublin”.
The report also concludes that the proposed secondment of Holohan to TCD and the associated research funding commitments should not have been linked together.
The substantial proposed funding commitment of €2 million a year until the retirement of the Chief Medical Officer, “bypassed all of the accepted protocols for research funding and was linked atypically to one named individual”, adds the report.
The commitment to Trinity College Dublin by the Department of Health of €2 million per year for research funding (to include University Departments of Public Health and others) and the subsequent declaration that it would be subject subsequently to competitive funding “is unusual and outside the regular HRB processes”, concludes the report.
It is also highlighted that there was a lack of formal consultation with the Taoiseach, Minister for Health, Government and DPER throughout the process.
In addition, the report finds that the quantum of €2 million in research funding committed to TCD is not based on any scope nor costings, but arrived at by Watt and the Chief Medical Officer as an indication of serious intent by the Department of Health.
There was no consultation with the HRB, it states.
Guidance was also not sought from DPER as to whether the Chief Medical Officer, a Deputy Secretary General, could be seconded to the university sector as per the Government decisions of 2011 and 2021, in respect of Secretaries General, finds the report.
Responding to the report, Donnelly said the report “contains a number of important observations and conclusions”.
“There are very clear lessons to be learnt by my department. The Report is clear for example that appropriate consultation and communication with relevant Ministers should inform such decisions in the future,” he added.
“The report confirms that no attempt was made to conceal the nature of the agreement with TCD in relation to the proposed secondment. Indeed, as the Report outlines, those details were put into the public domain indirectly by my department which provided material to assist with a response to a media query.”
Donnelly said he has written to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe, to request that his department examine the issues highlighted in relation to future secondments.
“There are also clear learnings for my department. I have also asked my officials to examine whether guidelines need to be drawn up to deal with the very important issue of health research funding in the future.
“I accept that all of those who became involved in this process did so with the intention of retaining for the public service the unique expertise of the former CMO, who had helped guide the public health response during the pandemic,” he said.
In a statement, Holohan welcomed the publication of the report, saying that he had previously urged Donnelly to conclude and publish it earlier.
A short statement regarding the Report published today. pic.twitter.com/R9FbuTM4jO
— Dr Tony Holohan (@DrTonyHolohan) April 17, 2023
He said that when he had sought the secondment, he had the “full knowledge and support” of the Secretaries General of the Department of Health and the Department of the Taoiseach.
“I regret that a valuable opportunity to benefit the future of Ireland’s public health has been lost, but am gratified that the Report confirms that the engagement of both universities with the process was beyond reproach.
“As the Report and documentation make clear, Trinity College had no input into, or involvement with, the level of research funding proposed and decided by the Secretary General of the Department of Health on 1 March in a meeting with myself.
“For the sake of clarity, the first time that the amount of research funding was disclosed to Trinity was, as the report states, when it was included in the final draft of the letter of intent sent on 16 March by the Secretary General to Trinity College after they had committed to lead the project.”
Holohan added that he hoped there would be learnings from the report and that this would improve “clarity and competence in any future initiatives” .
“I remain passionately committed to improvement in public health and continue to seek opportunities related to my field of expertise in Ireland and abroad.”
The report itself recommends that existing circulars and policies on secondments be reviewed and that secondments for higher-level civil servants should be scrutinised by DPER and potentially by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Additional reporting by Tadgh McNally
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It’s a disgrace.
@Seamus Gallen: Norway and Iceland are also not in IWC.
@Seamus Gallen: we should start Harpooin the People involved in the murder of these great Wales.
If Japan does this, the rest of the World should boycott every Japanese product.
@Brendan: Norway and Iceland do not abide (opting out) by the IWC rules around commercial whaling, so are we boycotting them too?
It makes no sense. Japan has been propping up the whale industry by $400m a year in subsidies in recent years. Nobody eats whale meat. They would be better off turning to whale tourism.
@Sean: Thanks for the very interesting article.
@Sean: was the industry hurt by the IWC rules though?
I’m just speculating, but if the caps are removed would it increase supply, meaning prices of whale meat goes down and thus more people can afford it leading to greater consumption and no need for Government subsidies.
@Hellenize Dublin: I really hope they don’t end up fishing for €400m worth of Whale meat. There aren’t that many of them left.
Sounds like one of those areas that has a strong lobby group that puts pressure on the government but doesn’t have a whole lot of actual support across a society – that’s my guess why they are restricting the hunting to their territorial zone. Widespread mass whale hunting would probably be unjustifiable for the population in general. Still rubbish though – some traditions should be let die.
@John McSweeney: it’s a criminal organisation that supports the trade. The meat is useless as its toxic. Whales are an essential species in all our oceans. For the Japanese to unilaterally take s decision like this is a flagrant disregard of international law and there should be consequences. #boycottjapan.
@Pat O’Brien: Norway and Iceland are not abiding members of the IWC either, are we boycotting them too?
I do believe in Whale conservation, so to address the original commentators point – the action of restricting lobbying groups should be the goal of most democracies. I’d like to see an outright ban on lobbying in Ireland or for it to be done in a public setting (town hall meeting format for instance).
@Hellenize Dublin: the town hall idea is a very good one.
It’s our culture boss!!!
@Doz: Just because something was ok years ago doest not mean its ok now the ocean have enough problem as it is without this too
@ross guilfoyle: faux outrage
@Doz: Brilliant lol!
600 under the guise of scientific research. How many from open hunting? Dreadful practice.
Think twice about buying another Toyota
If anyone thinks that the Japanese will limit Whale hunting to Japanese territorial waters then they believe in the fairies too!
The Japanese will hunt whales across any open seas over 1000’s of KM. They will not restrict themselves during a hunt at all!
They won’t be happy until Whales are extinct!
Anyone who gets in there way will bfind there boats rammed by the Japanese whaling fleet who are almost military in there organization.
Needs to be nipped in the bud
Why not start with the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics (and I’m a rugby fan).
Sounds like the whaling industry has a strong lobby group that puts pressure on the government but doesn’t actually have much support across the general Japanese society (perhaps most people are opposed or indifferent to it) – hence why they are self- restricting their hunting zones. Hopefully it’s one of those things where the market will eventually kill it as people decide not to eat it. A lot of whales will be hunted in the interim though which is BS – some traditions should be forced to die out.
Toyota, Nissan , Sony three brands to boycott. If you can think of anymore please add them. This is a despicable.
D!ckhe@ds
If only Whales had nuclear weapons!
The whalewars lads will be busy again.
@All A Big JOKE: They won’t be chasing them around Japanese waters
Often it feels like our government sells conservation and saving the planet as an Irish responsibility. Meanwhile the rest of the planet doesn’t give a hoot. Anything Ireland does isn’t going to make a difference other than restricting and taxing us into oblivion while other countries carry on regardless.
And when there’s nothing to kill,will we again turn on ourselves…
Some Japanese see it as part of their culture, and place great emphasis on this pathetic excuse when challenged about the ethics of the practice.
So these magnificent creatures will continue to be hunted down by human predators even as their numbers dwindle in the oceans of the world.
It’s about time culture was rejected internationally as an excuse to engage in the tormenting or senseless killing of animals.
Bull fighting continues in Spain and a few other countries under the same pretext.
The deliberate torturing to death of an animal is deemed a “heritage gem” and endorsed by successive Spanish governments despite all the evidence of extreme cruelty and suffering.
Hare coursing clubs in Ireland also claim their fun and games at the expense of an endangered mammal must be allowed because it’s part of a cultural asset without which Ireland would a mere shadow of itself.
Burning people alive as sacrifices and throwing virgins into volcanoes in homage to assorted gods and goddesses were once deemed cultural activities too. We have dispensed with these traditions. We should also consign attacks on endangered species and deliberate cruelty to animals masquerading as “culture” to the dustbin of history.
Trump hates sharks and is about to introduce seismic blasting in the ocean, producing noise the sound of a rocket launcher that will torture and kill many marine species, Humans kill over 100 million sharks a year – at that rate they will disappear and become extinct in the very near future. Boycott Japan for what they are going to do.
@GO GREEN: Seismic blasting in Arctic already happening – every 10 seconds, every hour every day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4O8FLv8dY&feature=youtu.be
They should grow whale meat at this stage… I’m joining Sea Shepherd :P
Not all cultural persuits are worth keeping, head-hunting and female genital mutilation spring to mind as well as whale-hunting.
No! No! No! It’s has got to be stopped!!!!!
Absolutely disgusting!! Killing these majestic animals for human commercial use is totally wrong and unethical!! The Japanese in general should feel so ashamed by this activity.
Whale meat is so laced with heavy metals that it’s virtually toxic. This is purely being forced by elitists whitin Japan as the average Joe has never even tasted it. At least there’s a likelyhood that the big knobs pushing for this poison themselves through consumption.
Boycott Japanese goods like their cars for starters? But aren’t the whales full of Fukushima cancer causing radiation as is much of the Pacific ocean. So the Japanese wants to get radioactive plutonium into their diet now? Sounds like those in the government there are doing a sideline in that toxic mammal meat now?
Any thing they produce and sell should shunned by the world
Their tourism sector should be boycotted
Money’s talks, wake up call needed, time to stop districting every thing around us
have your say