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.

The sending of the letter comes as members of the PAC have called for the appointment process to be suspended.

They also want to know how the interim Secretary General Robert Watt was chosen and what likely impact on his terms and conditions would there be if he were successful in getting the job full time.

Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley. Picture: Gareth Chaney, Collins

The letter sent by PAC chair Brian Stanley on behalf of the committee has demanded a detailed information note from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the circumstances that led to the increase in remuneration for the Secretary General of the Department of Health.

The PAC has asked the following questions:

• 1. Were any meetings held by the Top-Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) regarding this appointment?
• 2. If so, are the minutes of the meeting(s) available? If not, please provide attendance lists and the agenda(s) for the meeting(s), including whether the remuneration for the post was addressed.
• 3. Please provide details of any engagements your Department and/or Mr Watt had with TLAC regarding same.
• 4 .What section of the department, body, or official proposed and approved the increase in remuneration for the Secretary General of the Department of Health? 
• 5. Please provide minutes of any meetings – whether internal or with any other officials or organisation – at which this proposed increase in remuneration was considered.
• 6. Please advise the committee in what circumstances there can be a deviation from the pay scale of grades in the civil service.
• 7. Was an exception made to substantially increase the pay scale in this case, and if so, provide details of the justification for this significant exception.
• 8. Please provide previous instances in relation to remuneration of a Secretary General being set in such a manner or confirm if this appointment will set a precedent.
• 9. Once the closing date of 28 January 2021 passes, please advise the committee how many applications were received for the role.
• 10. Please explain how the selection process can be deemed to be open and transparent when Mr Watt is already the interim Secretary General of the Department of Health.
• 11. Was the proposal to increase the remuneration for the position formally notified to any members of the Government and if so, by whom, when and which members?
• 12. Please provide pension, lump sum and other benefits that would be expected to accrue in relation to the proposed remuneration package, and how, if Mr Watt was to successfully apply for the role, this would impact on Mr Watt’s existing entitlements.
• 13. Was Mr Watt asked to forgo any entitlement to an increased lump sum and retirement pension based on the defined benefit scheme, which has a reported cost of several million euro?
• 14. Please provide details of the recruitment, appointment and assessment process for the role of Secretary General at the Department of Health, and whether the interview process will differ in any way from the appointment of any other Secretary General.

“The Committee requests that this information be forwarded within ten working days of the date of this letter. A response by email only is preferred,” Mr Stanley wrote.

As he is acting Secretary General, Mr Watt is currently being paid at the €211,000 level. The €292,000 salary will apply once the post is filled permanently.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has commenced an investigation into the “excessive” salary which is €81,000 higher than Mr Watt’s salary when he was secretary-general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER).

Defending the decision, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it was appropriate because of the exceptional importance of the Department of Health for a period of time.

“It is appropriate in order to ensure that we have the right level of skill leading a department like this. We do have a compensation package that reflects that,” he said.

Mr Watt was also one of four secretaries-general appointed by the Government in 2011 who had access to the same enhanced retirement and severance arrangements as former top civil servant Dermot McCarthy, whose departure was mired in controversy.

Mr McCarthy received an annual pension of €142,670, a once-off lump sum of €428,011, and a separate special severance payment of €142,670, despite savage austerity measures being introduced.