A review into the failed secondment of former Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan to Trinity College found the funding commitment “by-passed all accepted protocols”.

Last March, Dr Holohan announced he was stepping down from the role of Chief Medical Officer to take on a new role as Professor of Public Health Strategy and Leadership at Trinity College Dublin.

Trinity College Dublin. Credit Image: Peter Zoeller/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire

However, controversy developed when it emerged that it was an open-ended secondment - which the Department of Health would spend €2 million a year on until Dr Holohan’s retirement. 

In April last year, Dr Holohan announced that he was not proceeding with the secondment and would retire from his role as CMO.

The report, published today, has described the secondment as “unusual” and that the decision to fund it with public money did not meet “accepted norms of scrutiny, transparency and accountability.”

It also said Dr Holohan should not “not have been exclusively personally involved in the negotiation of research funding linked to his possible secondment.”

Main image: Tony Holohan. Picture by: RollingNews.ie