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”.