Top science adviser faces fresh claims over doctorate

A DEPARTMENT of Enterprise probe has raised fresh questions about the status of a PhD received in America by the Government’s top scientific adviser.

Dr Barry McSweeney - appointed to the €120,000 position of Chief Science Adviser by then Enterprise Minister Mary Harney last June - has been embroiled in controversy since it emerged he received a doctorate from an unaccredited institution in the US.

Although Dr McSweeney has argued the Pacific Western University was “a vastly different body” when he received his PhD, it has been branded a “degree mill” where qualifications can be received for a fee.