The Health Service Executive has indicated that it would be seeking formal approval from

the Department of Health to allow some voluntary hospitals and agencies to continue making top-up or additional payments to senior executives in excess of official pay rates.

However, the HSE’s national director for human resources, Barry O’Brien, said it could not say exactly how many applications would be submitted looking for official permission on behalf of agencies to continue the payments on a personal-to-holder basis.

The HSE's deputy director general, Laverne McGuinness, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children that it had received 67 business cases from voluntary hospitals and health agencies – known as section 38 organisations – with accompanying documentation arguing that senior managers had a contractual entitlement to the additional payments.

She said a further 14 bodies had indicated that their executives had similar legal contracts.

Ms McGuinness said the business cases were being reviewed by the HSE and that "where considered appropriate it would seek formal approval from the Department of Health on behalf of the agencies to 'red circle' these arrangements as personal to holder".

She said if the HSE was to support such applications it would “be on the strict understanding that once the current post holder no longer holds the roles and responsibilities attaching to the role, then the non-compliant remuneration will cease”.