CRC lied about chief’s salary, committee told

The CRC lied to the HSE by claiming its chief executive’s salary was in compliance with pay scales in July when in reality it included €40,000-worth of charity-funded top-ups.

Acting CEO of the disability group, Jim Nugent, admitted the situation as he conceded the board must now consider whether to resign.

Speaking to the PAC yesterday, he said after lengthy discussions with the HSE, it was agreed any new CEO would receive an €83,252 salary. The deal was put to the test in July when then director Brian Conlan replaced outgoing CEO Paul Kiely — who was receiving a €116,000 top-up to his €106,000 pay packet.

However, while the HSE was told Mr Conlan’s pay packet had been reduced to €83,252, it in fact stood at €125,000 — with the hidden extra €42,000 coming entirely from money donated to the Friends and Supporters of the CRC group.

“€125,000 was a workable salary. It was closer in line with the HSE scale,” Mr Nugent said.

Independent TD and PAC member Shane Ross said it was astonishing the pay ceiling was “knowingly” breached “even though there were all these warnings” from the HSE.

He said the “legacy issues” excuse did not explain the move. Noting the stance that was taken by the CRC, he told the group: “What you’ve done here is give two fingers to the HSE and gone in another direction.”

Mr Conlan did not attend yesterday’s meeting after resigning from his post on Monday. The former CEO said he stepped down to remove “legacy issues” affecting the facility.

However, PAC members have openly questioned whether his resignation was an attempt to avoid questions over the scandal, and have called for him to be “compelled” to attend an upcoming hearing.

In a statement yesterday, the former head of the Mater — who was a CRC board member since 2004 — said he is returning the extra money to the group.

He claimed that, despite the fact he was the organisation’s CEO, he was not aware the additional funds came from public donations.

Meanwhile, Mr Nugent, director David Martin, and former CEO Paul Kiely confirmed the CRC board will meet in the coming days to “consider” repeated requests to resign over the mounting top-ups scandal.