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Very True .
There's one thing that really puzzles.
We know the bizzare appointment was concocted By Holohan and Watt , but I wonder if from the outset it was put to Trinity , they'd be paying the €187k salary, would this idea have even got off the ground , I strongly suspect not.
I'd love to see any and all communication between Holohan / Watt & Trinity, that would make fascinating reading .
edit
No argument that the stench is coming out of mainly Watts office and to a lesser extent Holohans, but you would still have expected TCD to check that he meets the minimum requirements to be a professor.
Also you would think after the whole Zappone debacle that Watt and Holohan would have had the cop on not to go down that route but instead they pretty much copied the Zappone debacle. Pressure coming on Donnelly now as to whether he is actually in control of the Department.
I've doubt Donnelly in control of anything, for quite some time.
But yes, I agree re comparisons to the Zappone Debacle but that said, this is Robert Watt were talking about and it's abundantly clear he doesn't give a toss and will do as he pleases.
If you let a dog eat off the table without it costing the dog anything he is going to keep doing it.
Same logic applies here. There was no penalty for the Zappone crony appointment or others. Why wouldn't they try it again?
Probably a bit unfair on Donnelly as he is the minister that has to work with Watt, after all it wasn't him that let Watt appoint himself as Sec Gen of the DOH and give himself an 80k payrise. When Watt got away with that there was going to be no controlling him. I wonder if they try to move him off somewhere else, usually to Europe.
No really surprising.
And there in lies the crux of the problem, Government Minister having to tip toe around a civil servant
Yes, says it all really . Will Donnelly grow a set over the weekend 🤔, I doubt it but someone needs to reign in Watt .
The only thing they can do with Watt is ship him off to you Europe. If I remember correctly they did it before with one of the civil servants in the department of finance during the recession.
If Watt was reading this thread, I know who he would be laughing at.
Main News item on VM news, Leo says no one in government happy, we're supposed to be the ones in charge 😏
Second story, front line workers furious over delay in paying pandemic bonus.
The Irony of it all
Don't tell me Varadkar has joined the "permanently outraged"? 😀
O but of course but Ironically Politicians clearly kept out of the loop on this latest debacle, he actually said, Donnelly called him about the professorship, they both assumed that's good for Tony, until days later the shyte started to flow and the details of what was actually being proposed came out. I knew when I heard Donnellys disastrous Radio interview, he hadn't a clue what was going on.
I'm getting a sense Politicians lining up to Bury Watt but in reality they are utterly powerless, but they can, I presume stop the secondment and my word a bitter Holohan would be a nightmare.
A real mess
Did he say 'lessons must be learned'?
'The fella put in charge because of policies we put in place and support, is out of order but its nothing to do with any elected ministers. We're only morto'.
No, I think he's so flustered over this, he's treading carefully but he did expand a little on RTE ,
"We need to check proper procedures were followed, I'm sure they were "
, WTF is that about , the procedure followed stinks to high heaven , we need to check proper procedure was followed my arse.
Read between the lines, he knows they have been caught bang to rights.
In fairness the politicians have no hand, act or part in this except for letting Watt get out of control. Unlike the Zappone fiasco which was all Coveney, the blame for this is with Watt and Holohan. Now if the politicians try to whitewash it by saying no procedures were broken then they are opening themselves up to more crony and corruption allegations.
Watt and Holohan work for the government and us. If they took their eye of the ball and a civil servant has gone rogue and they allowed this happen therefore the buck stops with them ultimately.
Yes as much as I hate to admit it, Politicians appear to be in the clear here but will they now reign in Watt, I'm sceptical to be honest and I still maintain Holohan up to his neck in this. Someone started this shenanigans and I suspect it was Holohan dropping hints etc .
No doubt Watt and Holohan are up to their necks in this together. Holohan probably thought after covid he could do anything he likes and no there would comeback after all to many he was a "hero". As for Watt well he was out of control as soon as he got the Sec Gen position. He should be removed now and either sent to Europe or retired.
Gulags nice this time of year I hear 😁
Oh if only.
The worst going that might happen Watt is an early retirement with a bonus on top of a massive pension. Then he'll away to the private sector, laughing.
As predicted, covid is being brought back to distract us. They're setting up NPHET lite and our man Tony is at the helm. Just announced this afternoon. I'm quite sure this is an extra earner above the CMO salary.
Surely this is a case to reopen debate as regards limiting civil service pay to 100K per annum
We're paying top dollar and not getting value for money,havnt with years if ever
no mind the questions this should arise regarding complience and corporate goverence within civil service
This will end up like the Zappone makey up job. It won't be filled and the government will be hoping that in a years time we will forget about it.
They're hoping everyone forgets about it over the weekend.
Oh look a squirrel
Has Darragh Murphy returned the expenses he claimed when he was double jobbing?
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