Labour kept in dark over HSE chief’s departure

Labour’s anger toward Health Minister James Reilly burst into the open after the party was kept in the dark about the planned resignation of HSE chief executive Cathal Magee.

Dr Reilly failed to mention it at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, leaving Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and fellow Labour ministers to learn of it from the media.

Róisín Shortall, one of Labour’s two junior health ministers, issued a statement describing Mr Magee’s departure as a “significant blow” to the health service and confirming she had learned of the development “from media reports”.

Separately, senior Labour sources criticised both Dr Reilly’s failure to inform the Cabinet and his handling of the health portfolio.

Extraordinarily, one senior Labour source went so far as to agree with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s assessment of Dr Reilly.

Mr Martin claimed in the Dáil that Dr Reilly was a “volatile” minister and that senior personnel had left the health service because of how he dealt with them.

“I would say that Micheál Martin is absolutely on the button. It [volatile] was a very well-chosen word,” the senior Labour source said.

“In the middle of last year, he sacked the board [of the HSE]. What was that about? What did that achieve?

“Now, in relation to Cathal Magee, it amounts to finding another person to blame, another fall guy.”

The source said Dr Reilly was failing to tackle the budget overrun in his department and that frontline services were at risk — a suggestion the Government has been at pains to reject.

“The big danger now is that it will be frontline services or low-income entitlements that will be affected by this. At this stage of the year, how is he going to make the savings? As of now, he has no [viable] plans to close that gap… What is required is for the Taoiseach to take action and tackle the problem.”

A second senior Labour source said it was likely the Tánaiste would raise with the Taoiseach the failure by Dr Reilly to inform the Cabinet about Mr Magee.

“From our perspective, the blame lies with Reilly and nobody else. He’s the issue. He should have told the Cabinet [on Tuesday].”

The Cabinet discussed the HSE overhaul but Mr Magee’s departure was not mentioned. A spokesman for Mr Kenny said he had received “formal notice” after the meeting of Mr Magee’s intention to quit.

Dr Reilly denied claims he forced the resignation as part of his plans to reform the healthcare system.

The decision was “Mr Magee’s and Mr Magee’s alone,” said Dr Reilly.