McDowell advised hospital on top-ups

St Vincent’s Hospital Group was legally advised by former justice minister Michael McDowell that salary top-ups for seven senior staff were compliant with government pay policy because the extra funding came from private sources.

The senior counsel’s opinion was one of several sought by the Dublin hospital before it revealed two days before Christmas that seven senior staff, not three as previously believed, had received top-ups.

Among them was group CEO Nicholas Jermyn, whose public salary of €136,282 was privately topped up to €292,000.

Group chairman Noel Whelan told the PAC yesterday he still believed the hospital had not broken public pay policy rules but had decided to reveal the salaries because it was “in the public interest”.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin, said the attitude worried her “as you still hold the opinion you have the law on your side”.

However, Mr Whelan admitted the group was not in compliance with public pay policy in the eyes of the HSE, but it would “swing around into compliance… as fast as we can”.

It aims to “regularise” salaries and pledged to be compliant with HSE policy by the end of March.

Mr Whelan said that as part of the deal, it would separate the public and private roles of managers, as the positions of the group CEO and the CEO of St Vincent’s University Hospital will no longer be occupied by the same person.

The salary of the CEO of St Vincent’s would be publicly funded and the group CEO’s salary would be funded privately.

The decision to release details of the topped up salaries before Christmas caused widespread anger, prompting accusations the group was trying to “bury” the news to avoid public scrutiny.

Mr Whelan admitted to Fine Gael’s Simon Harris it had “irritated” people but it had been difficult to convene a board meeting.

Three of those who received top-ups totalling €28,211 a year have not been named because of legal and data protection issues. The extra payments to two had been stopped while the third had payments “regularised”.

PAC chairman John McGuinness accused the hospital of leading the committee “on a merry dance” as it had refused to appear before Christmas.

He repeatedly asked Mr Jermyn that when a new CEO is appointed at the public hospital, would his near €300,000 salary be reduced by the €130,000 top up he received?

Mr Jermyn said he was no longer receiving any more money from the public purse and would only say his new salary would be benchmarked.

The committee was told around 10 of 200 consultants who worked for the hospital were exclusively for public patients only and Mr Jermyn appeared to contradict the terms of the 2008 Consultants Contract.

He said type B consultants could carry out work in the private hospital, when the HSE clearly states they can carry out some private work but in public hospitals.

Last night the HSE told RTÉ there was no special arrangement for St Vincent’s Hospital.