Government ministers 'very annoyed' at handling of Holohan secondment

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien criticised the way the proposed secondment of Tony Holohan to TCD was handled

Speaking of the secondment debacle, Mr O'Brien said: 'I believe it's a loss to academia and to our students that Professor Holohan [above] is not in a position to take up that role'. File picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews

Many within the Government are “very annoyed” at the botched Tony Holohan secondment issue and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly should not have been blindsided, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said.

Mr O’Brien said that while he wants to await the outcome of the independent inquiry established by Mr Donnelly, he voiced his annoyance at the controversy involving the offer of €2m in research funding a year to Trinity College Dublin by Mr Donnelly’s top official, Robert Watt, without political approval.