Paul Reid (born 3 December 1964) is an Irish former public servant, who served as Director-General of the Health Service Executive, the national health service coordinating body, from April 2019 to October 2022.[4][5] He previously was chief executive of Fingal County Council from 2014 to 2019, and before that worked in Ireland's Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and an international development charity, after a 25-year career with telecom service provider Eircom and its predecessors.[6][7][8][9]

Paul Reid
Director-General of the Health Service Executive
In office
2 April 2019 – 3 October 2022
Preceded byTony O'Brien[1]
Succeeded byStephen Mulvany (Interim)
Bernard Gloster
Personal details
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Finglas, Dublin, Ireland
Other political
affiliations
Worker's Party (1985/1986)[2]
Children2
Residences
Alma mater
Salary€420,103 (2021)[3]

Life

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Early life

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Reid was born on 3 December 1964 and raised in Finglas, Dublin.[10] He left school at age 16 with an intermediate certificate (inter cert).

At age 21, Reid was an active member of the Marxist–Leninist political party the Worker's Party. He received a nomination to run for election but pulled out at the last minute.[2]

Career

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At age 16, Reid began his first job as a trainee installer at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. The job involved connecting landline telephones to homes and businesses, climbing telephone poles on the roadside to run lines.[11] In 2005, Reid began his second job working for Eircom as an underground cable jointer and later qualified as a technician. By the time he left Eircom in 2010, he was executive director of networks and operations.[12]

Studying at night, he took a Bachelor of Arts degree in human resources and industrial relations at the National College of Ireland, and later a Masters in Business Administration at Trinity College Dublin.[6][13]

From 2010 to 2011, he was head of corporate affairs with international development charity Trócaire, where he worked on an agenda to strengthen the governance of the organisation and on the improvements in HR, finance, risk management and communications.[6]

From 2011 to 2014, Reid joined the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as the chief operating officer. In this role, he had a leading role in the development, implementation and oversight of the government's reform programme across the civil and public service.[14] His big project was to secure a saving of €1 billion in the second round of public service pay cuts, leading to the Haddington Road Agreement, a difficult proposition as ASTI rejected its findings.

In 2014, he was appointed chief executive of Fingal County Council.[15]

Following an open competition by the Public Appointment Service, Reid was appointed to the position of Director-General at the Health Service Executive on 2 April 2019.[4] In his role he leads over 117,000 staff who deliver a wide range of health services across Ireland. He has said that his vision for the health service is to focus on long term planning by implementing Sláintecare and delivering effective and safe services within available resources.[16] Reid tweeted on Twitter that he left his position as Chief Executive of Fingal County Council on the same day he was appointed Director-General at the HSE.[17][18]

On 27 June 2022, Reid announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Director-General of the Health Service Executive at the end of the year "to spend time with his family".[19] He stepped down on 3 October 2022 and was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Stephen Mulvany on an interim basis until a permanent replacement was found.[20]

On 28 February 2023, it was announced that Reid had been appointed Chairperson of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use in Ireland.[21]

Personal life

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Reid is married with two children, a son and a daughter.[22] He resides in both Carrick on Shannon, County Leitrim and Finglas. He describes himself "as not a big reader" and enjoys listening to radio.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "HSE boss Tony O'Brien to step down over cervical cancer controversy". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Shanahan, Catherine (12 June 2020). "HSE's Paul Reid on his prescription for success". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ Deegan, Gordon (10 July 2021). "HSE chief Paul Reid's salary increases to €420,103". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Fingal Council CEO Paul Reid named as new director general of HSE". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  5. ^ Ní Aodha, Gráinne (2 April 2019). "Paul Reid is the HSE's new director general". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Speaker Spotlight: Paul Reid Chief Executive Officer, Health Service Executive". guaranteedirish.ie. Guaranteed Irish. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Minister Simon Harris announces membership of Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council". gov.ie. Government of Ireland. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. ^ McNeice, Stephen (2 April 2019). "Fingal Council Chief Executive Paul Reid appointed as new head of HSE". Newstalk. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Paul Reid – Chief Executive Officer – Health Service Executive – LinkedIn". ie.linkedin.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  10. ^ Ring, Evelyn (8 July 2019). "Paul Reid wants to see 'more devolved' HSE". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  11. ^ McGee, Harry (15 June 2019). "Paul Reid has a record of delivering big projects. Can he tame the HSE?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  12. ^ Browne, Maureen. "Private sector would not do better managing the Irish health service". healthmanager.ie. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Paul Reid – MacGill Summer School". macgillsummerschool.com. 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Taoiseach and Minister for Health announce the appointment of Mr Paul Reid as Director General of the Health Service Executive". gov.ie. Government of Ireland. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Message from Paul Reid, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council #OurCouncilDay". facebook.com. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  16. ^ "HSE CEO Paul Reid delivers RCSI Leadership Lecture". rcsi.com. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  17. ^ Paul Reid [@paulreiddublin] (2 April 2019). "Feeling humbled, honoured & privileged to have been appointed as the DG, HSE @HSELive and working with a workforce and new board, hugely committed to health care. Leaving Fingal @Fingalcoco with a heavy heart but proud of the staff & the citizens we serve" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Council chief to leave for the HSE". Fingal Independent. Irish Independent. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  19. ^ "HSE chief executive Paul Reid stepping down". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  20. ^ McCarron, Jamie (30 September 2022). "Paul Reid finishes last day as CEO of the HSE". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Paul Reid to chair Citizens' Assembly on drugs use". RTÉ News. 28 February 2023.
  22. ^ Carter, Erica (28 June 2022). "Inside Paul Reid's family life with childhood sweetheart Margaret and two grown up children". RSVP Live. Retrieved 26 December 2023.