The Health Service Executive (HSE) has defended its decision to award its chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm an €80,000 bonus.
The performance-related bonus was awarded on the recommendation of the HSE's remuneration committee earlier this week.
This is Prof Drumm's second performance-related bonus since he took up the top HSE post just over two years ago. His first bonus, details of which emerged in mid-2006, was for €32,000.
The decision to award the performance-related bonus comes at a time when hospitals are closing beds in order to curtail massive spending overruns and in the wake of a total ban on recruitment by the HSE.
In a statement released this afternoon, the HSE said that the bonus was fully in line with the terms of Prof Drumm's agreed compensation package.
The HSE claimed that the bonus was 'significantly lower" than the compensation arrangements typically available for similar sector positions. It added that few such positions carry the same level of responsibility.
"When Professor Drumm agreed to take up the post of CEO, he accepted fully the compensation arrangement offered, as approved by Government, and did not seek to renegotiate it. This included a Performance Related Award of up to 25 per cent of the base salary," the HSE said.
"Given the extremely demanding responsibilities and challenges of the post, the Board believes this compensation arrangement is entirely appropriate."