The Chief Executive of the Central Remedial Clinic has resigned following controversy about payment of salary top-ups.
Brian Conlon has stepped down with immediate effect, two weeks after it emerged that the clinic was using funds raised from a public lottery to fund top-ups to senior staff.
Mr Conlon did not himself receive salary top-ups from public fundraising sources.
He had been scheduled to appear in front of a Dáil committee later this week to discuss the top-up payments.
The clinic had come under public fire when it confirmed it had used the proceeds from its public lottery to partially fund top-ups to a handful of current and former senior staff.
The arrangement began when the clinic was told it had to abide by HSE pay guidelines, but could not amend the contracts of its existing staff to lower their pay.
As a result, the clinic itself funded the pay as far as the HSE limits would allow, and used funds generated from its lottery to pay the rest.
It said the practice ceased whenever any of the existing management had resigned or retired, as their replacements were not paid more than the HSE limit.
The clinic insisted, however, that funds from its Flag Day or Santa Bear appeals, or any other public fundraising initiatives, were not used to fund private salaries.
