Harney under fire over €70,000 bonus

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney was accused of “abdicating her responsibility” after claiming she had nothing to do with the awarding of a €70,000 performance bonus to HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm.

The payment is part of a total of almost €5 million in performance-related bonuses paid to senior civil and public servants for 2007, €1.7m of which went to HSE management despite patients suffering as a result of staff and service shortages.

The opposition last night described the bonus as “madness” and “outrageous”, with Fine Gael claiming it will weaken the Government’s authority in any attempts to cut the pay of public servants, including nurses and health staff, in December’s Budget.