The HSE has appointed five new national directors and a Chief Financial Officer at salaries ranging from €158,000 to €173,000.

The Five National Directors posts - Ian Carter (Acute Hospitals); John Hennessy (Primary Care); Stephen Mulvany (Mental Health); Pat Healy (Social Care) and Stephanie O'Keeffe (Health and Wellbeing) have been created as part of a major restructuring of the HSE.

However, under Health Minister James Reilly's reform plans, the HSE itself is due to be abolished in the next two years and replaced with new structures to tie in with the eventual introduction of universal healthcare.

Each National Director will be paid an annual salary of €158,296. All five have been appointed from within the health service.

The HSE has also appointed a Chief Financial Officer under a five year contract at a salary of €172,495. Thomas Byrne has previously worked in the private sector, and is a former director and Chief Finance Officer of BT Ireland.

The five directors will be called Directors Designate pending the enactment of legislation to formally implement the new HSE structures.

HSE Director General Designate Tony O'Brien said the new directorate management teams will in due course be subsumed into a new commissioning body called the Healthcare Commissioning Agency.