The former Chief Executive of the doctors' union, the IMO, has indicated he will cooperate with the external inquiry into his remuneration and the IMO's finances and governance over the past 20 years.

However, current IMO President Dr Paul McKeown has strongly rejected McNeice's claims that his 'excessive pay arrangements' were not secret and were widely known within the organisation while he served as CEO, and has expressed 'disgust' at the former CEO's attempts to justify them.

The IMO, at its annual meeting currently being held in Killarney, is debating the continuing fallout from the controversy over George McNeice's €9.7 million retirement package and his remuneration deal while he worked for the Organisation.

He had been earning just over €490,000 when he retired at the end of last year. This figure did not include bonuses, according to Dr McKeown.

Mr McNeice's spokesman declined to comment on which senior IMO figure signed off on Mr McNeice's controversial contract revision in 2003-4. However, it has now been confirmed that Dr Joe Barry, who was IMO President from 2003-4, signed off on the contract.

The spokesman told irishhealth.com Mr McNeice had foregone his 30% bonus payment and had accepted a pay freeze from 2008 after he had proposed this to the IMO's Remuneration Committee.

Asked if the question of Mr McNeice having his salary reduced had arisen subsequent to this, in the context of the public service pay cuts implemented in January 2010, the spokesman said not to his knowledge. He said he was not sure if Mr McNeice had been asked to take a pay cut.

Asked who had signed off on his contract in 2004, the spokesman said Mr McNeice was not 'pointing the finger' at any particular individual in this regard and was answering questions solely relating to him.

Dr McKeown has now confirmed that former President Dr Joe Barry signed Mr McNeice's contract in 2004. Dr McKeown said that Dr Barry did not appreciate the ramifications of the contract.

He described the signing as a 'procedural matter' after another senior figure in the IMO, Dr Cormac Macnamara had negotiated it, but died some time after.

Dr McKeown told RTE the McNeice contract had been a major mistake and represented a lack of oversight.

Mr Mc Neice's spokesman said he would cooperate with the recently announced external retrospective inquiry into the CEO contract and the IMO's finances and governance over the past 20 years. Mr McNeice served as CEO of the Organisation from the early 1990s until he retired in December last.

The spokesman said Mr McNeice's position was that he had now left the IMO - the Organisation was in possession of all the relevant details and was dealing with the matter. However, the former CEO would assist in the review if required.

Asked how extensive was the knowledge within the upper echelons of the IMO about Mr McNeice's remuneration, the spokesman said 'it was known or could have been made known to anyone who wanted to find out'.

He said every year there would have been a review by the Remuneration Committee of Mr McNeice's contract. This was assisted by an outside consultant. His work for the year would have been reviewed including whether he had met set targets and a decision would have been made on the payment or otherwise of a bonus on that basis.

The spokesman said the implication has been made that Mr McNeice's contractual arrangements were 'secret', but this was not the case and they had been totally above board.

"If some individual did not know (the details) it was not the case that Mr McNeice was keeping that information from them. It never transpired that anybody asked him and he refused to tell them." The spokesman said anyone on the executive of the Organisation could have found out about Mr McNeice's contractual situation.

However, Dr McKeown told the AGM today he was shocked at Mr McNeice’s excessive pay arrangements and 'disgusted' at his attempts to justify them.

"I was disgusted by comments attributed to a spokesman for the former CEO trying to justify a salary of almost €500,000 a year – before bonuses – on the basis that it was widely known throughout the organisation," said Dr McKeown. "I utterly reject that claim.

Dr McKeown also questioned the timing of comments made on behalf of the former CEO.
 
"I don't believe it is a coincidence that after all these months, the man sends people out to talk to the media to suggest that everyone knew about his salary, on the very day we begin the process of finding out exactly how that contract - which has brought him so much wealth and brought this organisation so much grief - was agreed in the first place."

Dr McKeown has revealed that in the past, proposed IMO AGM motions which sought information on the CEO's remuneration package had been deemed illegal. He said there were other issues built into these motions in relation to competition law and other State laws which led to the entire motions being deemed illegal.

On the painting which Mr McNeice is seeking possession of from IMO headquarters, his spokesman said Mr McNeice felt this to be primarily of sentimental value to him.

Asked why Mr McNeice was pursuing the payment of health insurance premia of around €10,000 to him in respect of 2013 when he was already set to receive substantial remuneration under his settlement package, the spokesman said this was not a 'new demand' from Mr McNeice, as it had been portrayed in some quarters, but arose as part of his overall settlement package.

It may have been an 'oversight' that led to the insurance premia not being paid, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the payment was currently the subject of legal correspondence between solicitors for both sides but the issue had not yet been resolved.

Dr McKeown, referring to the ongoing CEO controversy, told the AGM he firmly believed: "the only way we will truly understand how this situation arose is through the independent retrospective review that we have now commenced and I hope the former CEO makes himself available to co-operate with the review."