Senior HSE official resigns over contractual dispute

The deputy head of the Health Service Executive has tendered his resignation as part of a contractual dispute with the Department of Finance.

Pat McLoughlin, who is also director of the National Hospitals Office, said yesterday that the department had refused to honour the terms of the contract it agreed with him when he took up the job last January.

The dispute centres on pension entitlements related to Mr McLoughlin's role with the HSE.

He is now planning to leave that position at the end of January next year.

Labour Party TD Liz McManus has vowed to raise the matter in the Dáil, saying the Minister for Finance must bear responsibility for "yet another cock-up in our health service".