Public pay top-ups - PAC inquiry needs to bring clarity

The disclosure that Dr Rhona Mahony, the master of the National Maternity Hospital, was paid a top-up of €53,009 in a CEO allowance, and €45,000 in private patient fees, in addition to her salary of €183,562 has sparked considerable public uneasiness.

She insists what she was paid “was strictly in line” with her contract, and in compliance with the public pay policy in relation to her position.

While many people are unlikely to have much sympathy for her in the circumstances, she does have a point in complaining that she had been “vilified” by being singled out. She was only one of many people receiving top-ups to their salaries, thereby allegedly breaching the public pay policy.