New VHI chief appointed as consultant to avoid public service pay limits

The VHI has circumvented public service pay limits in appointing a new chief executive as a consultant on a one-year contract…

The VHI has circumvented public service pay limits in appointing a new chief executive as a consultant on a one-year contract.

Mr Oliver Tattan, former chief executive of the Irish Trade Board, is to take up the position in December.

It is almost five months since Mr Tattan received a reported £150,000 severance package from the Government after he said he would not be taking up a position with the new super-agency Enterprise Ireland.

The health insurance company has been without a full-time chief executive for over two years. The position was held by Mr Aidan Walsh, on secondment from Price Waterhouse.

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Initially Mr Walsh had a six-month contract, which was subsequently extended. For the past year he had been working as a consultant on a part-time basis for which the company was paying £250,000 per year. A VHI spokeswoman said the company would not reveal how much Mr Tattan was being paid, except that it was not as much as what was paid to Mr Walsh.