HSE ‘knew of wage scales’, says Peelo

The controversy over top-up payments to senior staff at the Central Remedial Clinic has erupted into an angry war of words between the organisation’s ex-chairman and the HSE.

Des Peelo, who insisted he was speaking on behalf of the CRC board, said the health executive was fully aware of wage scales that went above pay cap levels.

Mr Peelo said the HSE had agreed that the CRC had contractual obligations to employees earning higher wages when austerity guidelines were introduced in 2009.

“No one has done anything wrong,” Mr Peelo told RTÉ as he rejected calls from across the political spectrum for the CRC board to resign.

Mr Peelo said two of the “very top people” at the HSE attended a meeting in 2009 during which privately-funded top-up payments for nine people in the CRC were agreed.

Mr Peelo insisted that no funds had been “misused”, and also launched an attack on independent TD Shane Ross regarding his comments on the CRC.

“This is a marvellous organisation and I must admit, speaking on a personal level, I’m outraged at the comments by Shane Ross and suggestions that he has made about improprieties,” Mr Peelo said.

The remarks drew fire from the HSE who strongly denied sanctioning any tampering with the pay cap. “The arrangement entered into by CRC with its former CEO and other senior staff at the organisation was not at any stage agreed to or sanctioned by the HSE,” said a HSE statement.

“All HSE-funded agencies are expected to comply with public pay policy.

“It came to the attention of the HSE in 2009 that the CEO and a number of other staff of the CRC were being paid substantially above comparable levels within the HSE or other public bodies.

“The HSE was concerned about these arrangements and as such held a meeting with the chairman of CRC.

“The HSE set out the appropriate salary for these posts in line with public pay scales and informed the CRC that these were the salary levels the organisation was required to comply with.

“For legal contractual reasons the agency stated that it could not change the contractual conditions of these staff at the time.

“The CRC gave a commitment that on the refilling of these posts in the future, rates would be brought in line with public sector pay rates.”