Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher says that he has significant concerns about the recently
published Terms of Reference for the external review into the proposed appointment of Dr.
Tony Holohan to a position in Trinity College Dublin.
Mr Kelleher describes the Terms of
Reference as weak and says they will not enable the review to examine the substantive
questions that must be answered about the circumstances surrounding the proposed
secondment. Mr Kelleher says questions remain as to how the Secretary General of the
Department unilaterally decided to allocate €2 million of taxpayers’ money the new role and
how it was decided that TCD would be the host body. The review will be carried out by
Maura Quinn, the outgoing Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors. Ms. Quinn will not
be paid any fee for the work and is expected to complete her report by in June. Health
Minister Stephen Donnelly set the terms of reference to be as follows to “determine learnings
from the process related to the proposed secondment of the Chief Medical Officer and
associated research proposal and to make recommendations that could inform future such
initiatives”. Dr Holohan has since announced that he will not be taking up the position.
