Children’s hospital broke pay guidelines to fill key roles

Two key roles for the development of the new national children’s hospital at the St James’ Hospital campus in Dublin could not be filled within official pay guides.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), which is overseeing development of the €1bn facility, broke salary caps set by the Department of Health to hire two key staff.

The NPHDB said the two roles were filled by paying “market rates.” The board said it had paid the two staff members a total of €49,211 in excess of Department of Health pay guidelines in 2016.