Current CEO of the Health Services Executive (HSE), Professor Brendan Drumm, is to return to UCD as Professor of Paediatrics when his tenure with the HSE ends next year.
Prof. Drumm is currently on a leave of absence from the position, worth approximately €284,000 a year, and is also expected to return to duty as a consultant gastroenterologist in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
A spokesperson for UCD confirmed that Prof. Drumm’s leave of absence extended for a maximum of five years, and that he “is entitled to return to the University when [his term with the HSE] is completed. The practice of facilitating staff in this way is well established and doesn’t have any implications in the context of the current recruitment policy.” UCD currently operates a recruitment freeze for financial reasons, forbidding the hiring of new staff.
The spokesperson also confirmed that Prof. Drumm would be paid “on the academic consultant scale”, and when questioned about the salary for such a role, described the figure of €284,000 as being “in the ball park”.
Prof. Drumm’s current role carries an annual salary of approximately €400,000 plus bonuses, though he has insisted that this falls below his combined earnings from his earlier roles in UCD and Crumlin.
When appointed as the HSE’s first Chief Executive Officer in 2005, reports suggested that Prof. Drumm’s employment was dependant on his returning to a high-level position when his tenure ended in summer 2010. Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, refused to commit to such an appointment at that time. The dispute was resolved, however, when UCD offered to provide a leave of absence, giving Prof. Drumm the option to return to academic life next summer.
Prof. Drumm is expected to take time to update his clinical skills before returning to full medical practise.