Drumm bonus fallout continues

The fallout from the revelation about HSE chief Prof Brendan Drumm being offered a €70,000 bonus for his work in 2007 is continuing.

It has been reported this morning that the HSE board decided to give the CEO his bonus after Prof Drumm provided a five-page letter to the board justifiying his eligibility for a bonus payment.

The reasons Prof Drumm gave for getting his bonus included dealing with a nurses' strike; changing the public perception of how services should be provided in the future; dealing with the media; and controlling employment numbers.

According to a report in the Irish Independent, Prof Drumm is expected to draw down the bonus payment offered by the HSE board.

Meanwhile, HSE Chairman Liam Downey said Prof Drumm merited the bonus.

The Government suspended the payment of bonuses in the public service, including the HSE, from 2008.

The HSE had been planning to review its bonus payments system for top staff in 2008 before it was suspended.

irishhealth.com recently revealed that Prof Drumm and the chairman of the HSE board's remuneration committee, Donal de Buitleir, last year queried the level of bonuses due to be paid to some senior HSE managers for their work in 2007.

However, the bonuses were eventually paid at the recommended levels. Mr de Buitleir had warned at the time that the bonuses should not regarded as an entitlement.

Prof Drumm's current total remuneration, including his latest bonus, is reported to be more than €500,000.

This compares to the salary of the head of the NHS in the UK, who gets only €270,000.

Prof Drumm's salary has been subject to the public service pension levy imposed earlier this year, although he is not believed to have taken a voluntary pay cut, as some other higher level public servants have done.

(Read more on this topic here)

[Posted: Thu 15/10/2009]