The Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) felt internal competition for the position of chief executive this year was “sufficient”, the organisation’s chairman told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.
The HSE wrote to the CRC on 20 occasions outlining concerns about its process of appointing a chief executive this year, and issued it with an “unprecedented” two formal warnings.
The committee heard the HSE never before had to issue a performance notice for non-compliance with a service agreement to institutions like the CRC, as it had done with the appointment of Brian Conlan as chief executive. However, James Nugent, the CRC chairman, said it was felt that “internal competition was sufficient” to pick a replacement for Paul Kiely, who stepped down after 25 years in the job.
He was replaced by Mr Conlan, who took over as chief executive last July but resigned over the weekend in the midst of the controversy over top-up payments at the organisation.
Mr Conlan’s resignation took the board of the CRC by surprise, and Mr Nugent said yesterday he had stepped aside for “personal reasons”.
“Towards the end of it I think he found it was a great intrusion into his personal life,” Mr Nugent told the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Conlan declined to appear before the committee, although Mr Nugent said he would have been compelled to do so if he were still a CRC employee. He said the organisation could not force Mr Conlan to attend now.
The committee is considering its powers of compelling him to do so.
Mr Conlan was criticised yesterday for not appearing, and Wicklow TD Simon Harris described him as “the missing man”.
However, his initial appointment as chief executive was strongly criticised, both by Deputies and by representatives of the HSE who appeared before the committee.
Mr Conlan, who was previously CEO of the Mater hospital in Dublin, had been a member of the CRC board and this, along with the organisation’s failure to hold an open competition for the position of chief executive, led to strong criticism from the HSE about the process of filling the post.
After three previously ignored letters, Laverne McGuinness, a HSE national director, wrote to Mr Nugent in July outlining concerns about the CRC’s failure to adhere to recruitment guidelines.
She asked for a detailed response within 14 days and issued the CRC with a performance warning.
The CRC was issued with two formal warnings by the HSE, and Ms McGuinness also warned the clinic it could have some of its State funding, around €240,000, suspended.
Ms McGuinness said it was “unprecedented” for two formal sanctions to be issued, while Barry O’Brien, also from the HSE, said it was an extraordinary scenario.
However, Mr Nugent said “the directors have a job to appoint a CEO and that’s the job we did”.
He also said the sense was “you can have a good succession plan by allowing executives develop” and “internal competition was sufficient”.
Mr Harris said the manner of Mr Conlan’s appointment alone was reason enough for the entire CRC board to resign.
Seven TDs called on the board to resign, and Mr Nugent said he would take the views from the committee back to his fellow directors.
Mr Harris said they also heard Mr Nugent describe the CRC board as self-electing.