Former CRC chief will not appear at Oireachtas committee

The Central Remedial Clinic's chief executive who resigned yesterday, Brian Conlon, will not appear before a meeting of the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee.

Separately, The Irish Times has learned that Mr Conlan was in receipt of a salary significantly in excess of that approved by the Health Service Executive.

Mr Conlan was in receipt of a €125,000 salary until October of this year, though the salary level approved by the HSE for his post was about €83,000.

A spokesman last night said Mr Conlan was in the process of reimbursing the HSE for the value of his salary in excess of official guidelines.

Despite calls by the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee to attend tomorrow’s sitting, a spokesman for Mr Conlan said he will not appear. “He has resigned from his post and doesn’t have additional information to bring to the proceedings beyond what is available to the remaining directors . . . There is no onus on him to appear,” he said.

The clinic has been mired in controversy since it emerged that charitable funds were used to top-up the salaries of senior executives.

The Irish Times reported last week that the HSE expressed alarm during the summer over the "highly irregular" manner in which Mr Conlan was appointed, without interviewing external candidates.