PAC members being 'nobbled' as they query pay rise for health chief 

Committee members warned by officials it could be 'interpreted as a contravention' of Dáil rules if it were to write to the Department of Public Expenditure about salary hike for top health job

Robert Watt, acting secretary-general at the Department of Health. A salary of €292,000 has been agreed for the role. Picture: Oireachtas TV/PA Wire 

Several members of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee have said they are being "nobbled" in their efforts to investigate how a salary of €292,000 was agreed for the new top health official.

The row has erupted over whether the PAC has sufficient remit and oversight powers to investigate the matter but committee members see this as part of wider attempts by officials to curb its powers in the wake of the 2019 Angela Kerins Supreme Court case.