Robert Watt | Business Post

Minister for Health wants to ‘finish the job’ in department after reshuffle

Minister says progress is being made in health service, but a ‘huge amount of focus’ is still necessary

Review into Holohan secondment to Trinity still not completed

Stephen Donnelly, the Minister for Health, ordered an external report into Holohan’s secondment to Trinity College Dublin, which was approved by Robert Watt

Reid told Watt to retract ‘unwarranted slurs’ on HSE following health tape revelations

The soon-to-depart HSE boss warned its secretary general that the ‘disparaging and damaging manner’ in which his staff were referred to on a whistleblower’s recordings had caused bad feeling within the organisation

Department suspends Health Tapes whistleblower as investigation looms

Shane Corr submitted several disclosures to the Public Accounts Committee in recent months after making recordings of department meetings

€350m HSE surplus from under-recruitment will fund Covid costs and pay restoration

The HSE’s 10,000-staff recruitment target became the subject of controversy in February, when the Business Post revealed that an official in the department had called it ‘batshit’ in an internal meeting

Holohan rebuked by Donnelly over Nphet replacement group

The chief medical officer raised concerns over membership of the new advisory team, correspondence seen by the Business Post shows

Holohan signals willingness to reconsider academic role

Chief Medical Officer says he would ‘prefer to be in a different situation in terms of where this has ended up’ during questioning on abandoned secondment to Trinity College

Watt says cancellation of Holohan’s TCD post a ‘matter of regret’

Top civil servant to tell politicians details around funding of chief medical officer’s salary yet to be agreed

McGrath questioned Donnelly over HSE governance after health tapes revelations

The Minister of Public Expenditure sought clarity from the Minister for Health regarding his department’s management of the HSE’s finances, in the wake of a Business Post investigation

Watt’s €20m ‘letter of comfort’ raises hard questions

The fact that the secretary-general at the Department of Health committed to spending €2 million per year of department money on Tony Holohan’s Trinity appointment without informing the minister will lead to more controversy

Elaine Byrne: Watt isn’t the only one who needs to learn lessons from the Holohan debacle

Top civil servant Robert Watt, whose salary has earned him some notoriety, may be a convenient scapegoat in the secondment controversy but politicians, including the Taoiseach and some junior ministers, are not without blame

Doubts over new Covid advisory group amid Holohan fallout

Team set up to replace Nphet yet to meet

Pat Rabbitte: Holohan debacle shows we need to look again at 100-year-old act

The Ministers and Secretaries Act of 1924, which governs the relationship between ministers and heads of departments, is at the root of the current controversy about the CMO’s appointment to Trinity

Donnelly orders external review as Watt defends Holohan secondment

Chief medical officer’s abandoned move to Trinity College Dublin under scrutiny

Controversy forces Holohan to pull out of planned new role at Trinity

The controversial secondment of the chief medical officer to a post at Trinity College Dublin had already been paused by Taoiseach Micheál Martin this weekend

Government plans new push on €252k consultants contract

‘Revised’ proposal to be presented to medics is based on same salary for public-only contracts as last year

Editorial: Holohan controversy raises questions about Dept of Health’s decision-making

The chief medical officer’s decision to stand aside does not mean that the questions raised by the manner of the arrangement should go unanswered

Highest civil service post only open to those in the sector

The government will not seek applications from the private sector to succeed top mandarin Martin Fraser when he leaves the job later this year

Health tapes: Watt advised officials to take ‘minimalist approach’ to Sláintecare reforms

The secretary general of the Department of Health also warned of ‘endless claims’ from unions

Health Tapes: ‘Big lumps of money sloshing around’ – Robert Watt outlines his concerns over spending at HSE

At a top-level meeting held last January, which the Business Post has obtained a recording of, civil service heavyweight Robert Watt laid out his position on Sláintecare, the health service’s finances and dealing with public sector unions