Long-delayed Department of Health report strongly critical of appointment process last year
Ms Gillane’s submission to the inquiry is extremely strongly worded in her rejection of Mr Watt’s account of events.
Ms Gillane went on to dispute Mr Watt’s assertion that she knew about the nature of Dr Holohan’s proposed appointment in a number of respects. She also said: “I also wish to address the fatuous reference by the secretary general of the Department of Health to An Taoiseach being my ‘principal’. I am the chief of staff at the Department of the Taoiseach.
“I had no involvement in the internal Department of Health discussions, correspondence, discussions with TCD, decisions, approvals or implementation measures relating to either the secondment or the allocation of research funding,” he told the inquiry. “I also had no sight of any of the relevant official documentation. I was therefore not aware of all the details regarding the secondment and research funding as they were dealt with the Department of Health.
Asked about Mr Watt’s statement, he replied: “No. Indeed, I had no authority to give an instruction to the secretary general of another Government Department in respect of human resource and financial issues which are clearly his/her responsibility.” She also said that having Dr Holohan involved in the discussions about funding could cause a potential conflict of interest.
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