PAC demands answers to 14 questions over €292,000 health role

Robert Watt is currently acting General Secretary at the Department of Health. Picture: Gareth Chaney, Collins

The Department of Public Expenditure has been given 10 days to respond to 14 detailed questions around the decision to award €292,000 to an incoming top health civil servant.

In a letter from the Public Accounts Committee to the department, obtained by the Irish Examiner, committee members want an explanation as to how the sanctioned 45% increase in remuneration for the Secretary General of the Department of Health was arrived at.