The former chairman of the Central Remedial Clinic, Hamilton Goulding, has said nothing illegal took place at the clinic.

He told RTE the board of the CRC had contractual obligations to former CEO Paul Kiely which led to his being paid a retirement package of over €700,000 from donated charity funds.

Mr Goulding suggested that as a gesture Mr Kiely could pay some of the money back.

Meanwhile, Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chair John McGuinness said the PAC would be writing to all former CRC board members asking them to attend fresh hearings on the payments scandal.

He said there were still unanswered questions to be posed about governance and transparency at the CRC. The board resigned last month in the wake of the payments scandal.