Talks are understood be under way which may see a number of senior personnel at the National Maternity Hospital being permitted to retain salaries higher than those officially sanctioned by the Health Service Executive.
The controversy dates back to 2013 when a HSE audit into top-up payments to senior executives in voluntary hospitals and agencies funded by the exchequer – known as section 38 bodies – found that additional money from private sources was paid to three managers at the National Maternity Hospital.
The amounts ranged from €30,000 to €39,000 a year.
A document subsequently drawn up by the Department of Health said the privately funded additional payments were made to the secretary manager, the director of nursing and the financial controller at the hospital.
The source of the funding used to pay the top-ups – although never publicly disclosed – is understood to be money paid to the hospital by insurers for accommodating private patients in its facilities.
The hospital had said that neither funding from the State nor donations were used to supplement executive pay.
The HSE said this weekend: “The National Maternity Hospital entered into a process towards compliance in 2014 following the initiation of an internal audit.”
Legal obligation
A spokesman for the hospital said it had legal advice that it was contractually obliged to pay current salaries.
“We have shared our legal advice with the HSE and shown them the relevant contracts of employment, and are hopeful this will be now resolved satisfactorily.”
A number of other voluntary hospitals and health agencies have been allowed to continue to make additional payments to senior staff on a “red-circled” or individualised basis where there was a contractual commitment.
Last November, then minister for health Leo Varadkar said top-ups would be retained for incumbents but that any future appointees would have to adhere to public-sector pay policy.
Not compliant
Last Friday, the HSE said it did not consider the St John of God organisation to be compliant with public pay policy in light of recent disclosures about remuneration to senior staff.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Department of Health questioned the founder of the Console charity, Paul Kelly, in 2011 on foot of concerns raised that he had passed himself off several years ago as a hospital doctor.
RTÉ’s This Week programme said it had been told by the department it had pursued claims about Mr Kelly’s past behaviour after being contacted by a parliamentary assistant working for a TD.
The parliamentary assistant, Tommy Morris, had maintained Mr Kelly had obtained a job as a casualty ward doctor in the 1980s under false pretences and spent three weeks working on the ward until caught by gardaí.
Former minister for health James Reilly previously said he vaguely remembered some issues about Mr Kelly being raised with him informally by Mr Morris, but he said it was never put in writing and he knew no more about it.
In a statement last Sunday night the department confirmed it did examine the issues raised on foot of concerns flagged by Mr Morris five years ago, at a time when Mr Reilly was minister.
The interim chief executive of Console, David Hall, confirmed yesterday that discussions were ongoing with a "number of parties" and the HSE in relation to the continued provision of the suicide charity's services.
