SIPTU has written to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe seeking clarification of recent revelations regarding pay and pension top-ups totalling €1.64m for senior managers in the St John of God organisation.
The group is one of a number of so-called Section 38 bodies which receive HSE funding to deliver health and social services.
News of the top-ups has triggered widespread fury among unions and clients of the service and their parents.
300,000 public servants are supposed to be equally subject to the same basic pay rules, including austerity measures imposed under the FEMPI financial emergency legislation.
However, it has emerged that senior managers at the St John of God organisation received pay and pension top-ups totalling €1.64m, with Chief Executive John Pepper earning €182,000 a year.
St John of God argued he was exempt from FEMPI and that the top-ups were not funded from HSE grants.
The HSE has confirmed that these salaries and arrangements are not compliant with public pay policy and has commenced further investigations in similar State-funded bodies known as Section 38 agencies.
SIPTU is furious.
Its Health Division Organiser has written to Minister Donohoe and the HSE asking how senior managers have avoided the strictures of FEMPI, while members earning less than €35,000 a year had the full FEMPI cuts imposed on them.
He also asks how many exemptions were sought and granted for other Section 38 managers.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the St John of God Order said the CEO, Mr Pepper, was a Section 38 employee and covered by FEMPI to 31 December 2013.
He said that since then, his remuneration has been provided solely by the Order.
Mr Pepper's transition from public service employment to employment directly by the Order was "guided by professional advice", he said.
He concluded by saying that while the Order is confident that it is in compliance with public pay policy, it has informed the HSE that it welcomes its review and that it is keen to fully co-operate with such a process.
RTÉ News asked the spokesperson what salary Mr Pepper earned prior to 31 December 2013, and what FEMPI cuts had been applied to it.
RTÉ News also asked whether Mr Pepper's salary had risen or fallen on 1 January 2014, whether his departure in 2013 constituted a retirement, and whether he is in receipt of any ongoing pension payments or lump sums in addition to his current salary.
The spokesperson said that this matter is subject to a HSE review, so in respecting the review they are not commenting further in advance of it.
He said that St John of God has informed the HSE that the organisation will co-operate fully.
Meanwhile, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed that it has received the SIPTU letter and will respond promptly.
It said that the HSE internal audit is following up directly on the issues raised and will be reporting on same in a short period.
