A member of the board of the Health Service Executive admitted yesterday to being concerned at the fact that two people selected to head up the organisation had now withdrawn from taking up the post at the last minute.
Prof Anne Scott, who is also head of the school of nursing at Dublin City University, said the breakdown of negotiations last week with the second chief executive designate of the HSE, Prof Brendan Drumm, was clearly "a setback".
He had been due to take up the post in the autumn.
Last year the Irish-born doctor Prof Aidan Halligan, who is deputy chief medical officer in the UK, had accepted the job but later withdrew for family reasons.
Asked if she was concerned that both had walked away from the job, Prof Scott told the This Week programme on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday: "I think clearly the answer to that question is yes, it clearly concerns me. We have gone twice. We have found two candidates that we thought were very good candidates."
She emphasised she was speaking in a personal capacity rather than as a spokesperson for the HSE board.
She added: "I think, however, it should be recognised that this is the largest reform ever undertaken in the Irish State so it clearly is an extremely onerous job and individuals who may initially be excited by the possibility, when they start looking at the realities of the task in hand, clearly have a right to have second thoughts. I think from the HSE's perspective, it's very important that we get the right person into post."
Negotiations with Prof Drumm on the terms of his contract for the €400,000 a year job broke down when Prof Drumm insisted he wanted provision to be made for his return to work as a consultant paediatrician at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children when his contract expired.
The contract was for five years, but could have been extended to eight years.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said the HSE could not fund such an arrangement.
Prof Scott said the loss of Prof Drumm was "clearly is a set back" but plans for the complete handover of the health service to the HSE scheduled for June 15th were still on track.
Meanwhile there was speculation yesterday that Ms Harney may still reopen negotiations with Prof Drumm. However this could not be confirmed. A spokesman for Prof Drumm would not be drawn on whether he would at this stage re-enter discussions with the HSE on the CEO post. But he said Prof Drumm was enthusiastic about the challenges associated with the post and was upset that the negotiations fell apart over "a relatively trivial issue".