Outgoing Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan and Robert Watt, Secretary General at the Department of Health
David Cullinane says: "You're not going to take me for a fool. Of course government will commit in general terms to funding, they cannot be conflated running around writing letters to Trinity. This smacks of arrogance and you don't get that."
— aoife moore. (@aoifegracemoore) May 4, 2022
This morning.
Afternoon.
Robert Watt, secretary general at the department of health, has been facing questions about the appointment of Tony Holohan to a tax-payer funded role at Trinity Collge Dublin.
Via RTÉ News:
At the time the letter [to Trinity provost from Mr Watt requesting the vacancy for Dr Holohan] was written, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly did not know about this commitment.
At the Committee, Sinn Féin Health spokesperson David Cullinane said this was a display of breathtaking arrogance from Mr Watt, who he said had no such authority to make such a pledge.
He told Mr Watt that he had lost the run of himself.
Mr Watt strongly rejected “this characterisation”.
He insisted the secondment of Dr Holohan was “to give effect to the clear intention” of the Government and it did not sanction the spending of public money.
This would have to be done later by Mr Donnelly during the estimates process, he said.
However, Fine Gael Senator Colm Burke said the letter to Trinity College was effectively a contract and he suggested the Attorney General would likely agree with him on this point.
Watt defends handling of proposed Holohan secondment (RTE)
This is “yes minister” type stuff.
My only hope is that the average person who typically are not interested in politics gets a glimpse of how things work in reality.
It’s mostly bought and paid for fat cats in the civil service that run things, the politicians are little more than figureheads and fall guys. When they leave office, they often get lucrative handy directorships as a reward for helping out the right people.
I believe in the Kenny has quite a few.
If we are talking about morally flexible, as well as civil servants, people should take a very close look at the generous pay packages afforded to those that run state funded quangos.
The worst thing is that absolutely nothing will come of this. People will get the usual lessons learned speech and it will be on to the next thing.
As far as government wasting public money. This is pretty tame.
+ 1
“in the Kenny” should be Enda Kenny…..
Speech to text has come a long way , but it still can’t account for stupid users that quickly skim over text before posting lol.
“I believe in the Kenny” is the best election campaign Slogan that never was :D
May or may not have been part of a chant at the start of party meetings.
The stuff of nightmares!
My personal favourite is the old blue shirt mantra of
Heil O’ Duffy…..
Although that’s a part of Fine Gael history that they would rather the public forget and never speak of again.
Just wait until Ireland starts analysing the governments handling of covid 19
Just like they have started in the UK
All the lives lost the businesses destroyed the deaths and suffering from not able to process cancer patients or diagnosis then the mental health the suicides that are never talked about
Then the sudden removal of the lockdown and the highest number of cases as a result then we have the mental health the destruction of the hospitality industry and the driving drinking underground with copious quantities of cheap supermarket booze
Maybe with no lock down we would of fared just the same but with buisnesses intact less mental health issues and many who could of been treated earlier for cancers
We could of done a New Zealand due to the fact we are an island and we could of done many things
I said it all along the government did more damage than covid 19