Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has announced he will not proceed with a secondment to Trinity College as Professor of Public Health Leadership and Strategy.

The move had proved controversial in recent days after it emerged that Dr Holohan’s €187,000 salary would continue to be paid by the Department of Health - not Trinity College. 

"I intend to retire as CMO with effect from 1 July to allow the Department of Health sufficient time to advance the process of appointing my successor," he said in a statement to the press.

“I do not wish to see the controversy of the last few days continuing. In particular, I wish to avoid any further unnecessary distraction that this has caused to our senior politicians and civil servants.

"My strong belief is that this was a significant opportunity to work with the university sector to develop much needed public health capacity and leadership for the future. 

"In this regard, I would like to thank Trinity College and the Provost for their foresight and support in establishing this role.

"Following my departure, I look forward to sharing my knowledge and expertise outside of the public service."

Yesterday Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the appointment “should be paused”, while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar echoed his concerns: 

“We’ve disagreed once or twice but he [Dr Holohan] has been an excellent public servant and I think if this role goes ahead he’ll fulfil it very well,” An Tánaiste told Newstalk.  

“So I wouldn’t like to say anything that would be seen as critical of him. 

“But I do think transparency and process is important - I’ve learnt some lessons on that myself from mistakes that were made in the not too recent past.” 

He continued: 

“I’m not sure exactly what did happen in terms of what processes were followed and so on. 

“But we’re not satisfied quite frankly with how it appears it may have come about and that’s really why the Taoiseach has now sought that report.

"So we can know all the facts before we decide what to do.”

Main image: Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan speaking to the media in Government Press Center. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie/Alamy Live News