The president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said there were multiple failures in how the organisation negotiated, agreed and applied controversial contract with its former chief executive.
A special meeting of IMO members in Mullingar today heard that the doctors’ trade union had no option but to negotiate with its former chief executive George McNeice to reduce a potential €25m liability under his contract.
IMO president Dr Paul McKeown said the organisation would commission a full independent audit to examine its finance, contracts and compliance with regulations and good practice.
The audit will focus in particular on the conditions relating to the contract, salary and pension arrangements of Mr McNeice.
Dr McKeown said that as part of a deal reached with Mr McNeice, the former chief executive received a pension fund of €4.5m, a termination payment of approximately €1.5m and annual payments for 16 years to a total value of approximately €3.6m.
The contract with Mr McNeice was negotiated on behalf of the IMO by its former president Dr Cormac Macnamara, who is now deceased
It is understood that some members of the remuneration committee, in place in 2003 when the contract was negotiated, told the meeting that they were unaware of the details of its arrangement.
