Drumm should clear the air on bonus

[Posted: Fri 06/11/2009 by Niall Hunter, Editor]

Sooner or later, Prof Brendan Drumm is going to have to face the public and explain the rationale behind his being awarded a €70,000 bonus.  He also needs to clarify whether or not he is drawing down the bonus awarded to him.

It has now been more than three weeks since the news broke that the HSE chief was to receive a €70,000 bonus for his performance in 2007, following approval of the payout by the HSE board.

Since then Prof Drumm’s silence on the issue has been notable. He has not appeared in the media and has been largely absent from major public events relating to the health service, where he might have had to face questioning by the media or others about his performance award.

He did not appear at a major event on October 16, held to announce the appointment of architects to the new Children’s Hospital of Ireland project.

Earlier this week, the CEO pulled out of a scheduled appearance at a 90th anniversary conference being held by the Irish Nurses Organisation. The HSE said “diary commitments” forced him to cancel this engagement a few hours before the conference began.

The media lying in wait were denied an opportunity to question the CEO.

On Thursday, Prof Drumm did appear before the Public Accounts Committee of the Dail, but the awarding of bonuses to top HSE staff was not on the agenda for this meeting so did not figure in the debate.

Prof Drumm, emerging from the Dail meeting and (probably reluctantly) facing the media for the first time since his bonus was announced, refused to be drawn on the bonus controversy. He said it had already been widely discussed and he had nothing to add.

He added that he had a tough job and he had to get on with it. This is undoubtedly true, but there are many caveats to this.

Prof Drumm undoubtedly has a tough job, works hard and deserves to be well paid. But there remain questions aobut why his pay is so high and why he has been granted a large bonus during difficult financial times.

We still have not been given a detailed public explanation by Prof Drumm himself on the reasons for his bonus and if he is drawing it down.

Lest we forget, the rationale previously given by Prof Drumm in communication with the HSE board for his bonus, in a five page letter to the HSE board, was that overall, 2007 had been a success for the health services, with, he said, progress made in changing public perception of how a modern health service should function, and this was the most demanding task he had faced.

This may or may not be true, but it was also a year when, among other unfortunate events, the HSE was forced to divert money allocated to key service areas such as palliative care and mental health service to balance its books. There was also the little matter of the breast cancer misdiagnosis scandals.

The HSE CEO is currently looking into the black hole that will be the HSE’s finances in 2010. He will undoubtedly be telling us of tough decisions and sacrifices that lie ahead. It is going to be very difficult for him to do this with any sense of authority if questions remain about his bonus.

The bonus issue is going to be the "elephant in the room" any time Prof Drumm makes a statement on the difficulties facing our health service at the moment.

Another thing Prof Drumm might care to explain is why the HSE staff bonuses are currently decided upon and calculated by the HSE itself.

Future bonus payments for top HSE staff, which totalled well over €3 million in recent years, were  suspended by the Government last year.

If we are ever lucky enough to be in a situation where the public purse can again afford to award health officials bonuses, they should only be awarded for very exceptional service and be judged by assessors independent of the HSE.

Currently, HSE staff bonuses are decided upon and calculated by the HSE itself.

Most rational people would agree that the right thing for Prof Drumm to do now would be to clear the air and announce that he is deferring the drawing down of the bonus, in light of the current public mood, and the parlous state of the public finances and the health services.

This may take some of the pressure off him in his final nine months as CEO.

Whether or not he draws down the bonus, and presumably he will be able eventually to provide an eloquent justification for getting the award, saying nothing and avoiding the media spotlight just adds to public anger.

Silence may be golden, but it can also speak volumes.

tangocbm  Posted: 07/11/2009 04:01

At a time when many other heads of large organisations in both the private (Irish Banks) and public sector (FÁS) seemed to have gotten away with not being responsible for the the performances of their respective organisations, it is not surprising that the HSE Board have awarded Prof. Drumm this bonus. Lets not forget that the HSE itself needs to explain why they choose to award Prof. Drumm this bonus and stating that it is in his contract is just they 'passing the buck' and trying to divert most of media attention to him. I have always believed that in every organisation, the buck has to stop somewhere and it certainly is the case that the person in each organisation ultimately responsible for the running of that organisation (and accountable to the shareholders or the state "the Irish people") is that person. You've stated that "it was also a year when, among other unfortunate events, the HSE was forced to divert money allocated to key service areas such as palliative care and mental health service to balance its books. There was also the little matter of the breast cancer misdiagnosis scandals" That the HSE made the decision to award this man a bonus borders on the delusional. It begs the question " What performance criteria were included in his contract?" and if there appears that there wasn't as Prof. Drumm had to submit a rationale himself to justify this bonus, why wasn't there any performance criteria in his contract? Unfortunately, this also demonstrates the ever widening divide between those in senior positions in the public sector (including many of our politicians) who seem to believe that the current economic woes that affect our country do not apply to them. All Prof. Drumm had to do, in his rationale to the HSE, was to request that his bonus be deferred until such time as the public finances were in a better position. He could have avoided the worst of the media attention instead of now going into hiding.

leen  Posted: 07/11/2009 10:18

Drumm had a huge wage for his job.  Surely he is expected to do what he was employed for. Not all of us would say he did a good job.  I am a Tipperary old age pensioner with rheumatoid and asthma and Nenagh hospital has been a life saver for me. Asthma is unpredictable and an attack can occur out of hours of A & E.  Limerick is a long way from home for me during the night. My local radio station Tipp fm has a one day sponsored collection for Or Lady's In Crumlin. 51,000K was collected this year from the ordinary people of Tipperary.  If Drumm contributed his so called BONUS to the hospital what a difference it would make to the lives of our seriously ill children.  Wouldn't we have a bit more respect for him if he made such a gesture.

Anonymous  Posted: 09/11/2009 12:42

What he should do, is refuse to accept said bonus and that is what he woud do if he had principles.

bibi100  Posted: 09/11/2009 13:48

Brendan Drumm's basic wage is more than generous. But receiving a bonus for 2007 - the year Susie Long died from a treatable cancer because the health service had let her down - is galling. Her hospital had been waiting 17 years for the extra day beds they needed - beds which would have given her a really good chance of life - and they still haven't got them. She highlighted the systemic failings in the HSE even as the cancer pain ground her down. That was exceptional. What did Brendan Drumm do in his job that was so exceptional as to warrent a bonus?? It is baffling that there seems to be so much cash around to pay a few top individuals jetset salaries when our health service is in crisis.

buzz  Posted: 09/11/2009 14:56

Very well said. How can these people sleep at night? In the papers today about the amount of money that has been spent ferrying our"suits" around. Do they realise that for the €14,000 they spend on a limo hire, a seriously ill child can undergo much needed heart surgery for example? There is no sense of perspective with a lot of our politicians and minsters. It is very much a "them and us" mentality that prevails.

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