Former director general of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Prof Philip Nolan received a payout of €200,000, with an additional €275,000 for his legal costs, as part of the settlement of his legal action concerning the termination of his SFI contract last year.
The payout to Prof Nolan – who became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic when he served as a member of the high-profile National Public Health Emergency Team – is revealed in SFI’s financial statements for 2024.
The financial statements show that SFI’s own legal bill from Prof Nolan’s severance totalled €367,000 and a €59,000 SFI payout concerning a three-month contractual notice period brings SFI’s total bill to €901,000 before insurance payouts from AIG are taken into account.
The report reveals SFI received contributions from insurer AIG under SFI’s employment practices insurance policy of €200,000 towards the severance payments and €292,000 in respect of its own legal costs.
The payouts draw the attention of the Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy and, in his report accompanying the financial statements, Mr McCarthy states that “the net cost to Science Foundation Ireland arising from the termination of the former director general’s employment was €409,000”.
On the payout to Prof Nolan, Mr McCarthy states that “Science Foundation Ireland reached a severance agreement with the former director general which provided for a settlement payment of €200,000 and payment of €275,000 for his legal costs”.
Mr McCarthy further states that Prof Nolan’s employment at SFI ceased in May 27th, 2024.
Prof Nolan took up the prestigious post of director general at SFI in January 2022 on secondment from Maynooth University and the annual basic salary for the post in 2022 was €222,000.
Since leaving SFI, Prof Nolan has returned to Maynooth University where he is conducting research on the medical condition sleep apnoea.
In a statement read out at the Court of Appeal in December 2024 settling Prof Nolan’s legal action, SFI has said its termination of Prof Nolan’s contract was “never intended to imply any finding of wrongdoing on his part”.
Prof Nolan sued the foundation in May 2024, seeking to prevent his dismissal.
It followed publication of details about an SFI inquiry into claims made against Prof Nolan by five senior staff members in December 2023. Prof Nolan strongly disputed the allegations.
In its statement, SFI – now called Taighde Eireann/Research Ireland as a result of a merger of SFI and the Irish Research Council – said: “We confirm that there were no findings of misconduct or poor performance made against Prof Nolan and the termination of his contract was never intended to imply any finding of wrongdoing on his part.”
The “significant reputational damage” to him and the agency flowing from the unauthorised publication of internal reports is “acknowledged”, it read.