Former HSE CEO Paul Reid has said that he will “not get into a spat” with anyone over his appointment to the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use.
He also confirmed that he has never taken drugs and that his only experience was with a cigarette that made him "violently sick".
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced last month that Mr Reid, who stood down from his role in the HSE in October 2022, had been appointed to the chairmanship of the Assembly.
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At the time of his announcement, several Government TDs, criticised Mr Reid’s appointment, with some saying that it looked like a case of “jobs for the boys”.
Speaking for the first time about his new role, Mr Reid defended his appointment and said that he was not going to publicly fight with anyone about his position.
He told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne that he accepted he had a high profile from the pandemic.
He said: “It's always understanding that people will have a view.
“I’m not going to have a spat with anybody. I just want to reassure everybody, I am going into this role to ensure that the Assembly gets the opportunity to really understand, address, discuss all of those issues that are really complex. They’re not binary.
“We want to hear all aspects of the debate in a fair way and make recommendations from the assembly.
“In my role, I won't vote on any of these recommendations. My vote only comes into play if there's a tie or draw in terms of votes on a particular recommendation.”
Mr Reid said that he grew up in an area in Finglas that has “experienced many of the issues about how drugs are currently regulated and legislated’, He said that his upbringing and his roles as CEO of both Fingal County Council and the HSE will help him in the position.
Green Party TD Patrick Costello previously told the Irish Mirror that Mr Reid’s appointment was a “terrible decision” and a “missed opportunity”.
He said: “We could have had someone creative. We could have had someone inspiring for the members of the assembly.
“We could have had someone who was on the outside of the issue to bring fresh thinking, who wasn’t in charge of delivery of services.”
Mr Reid also confirmed that he had never taken drugs. He said that his only experience was with a rolled cigarette when he was 15-years-old that made him "violently sick on the spot".
He would also not say what his own position was on the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, saying that he did not want to “dominate the view of the assembly members”. He said that he has read up on what other counties have done in this regard and will bring this information to the Assembly.
The former HSE CEO said that there are “concerning facts” about illicit drug use in Ireland, with recent surveys showing that 5% of 15 to 34-year-olds have used cocaine.
Questions still remain over whether or not Mr Reid will be paid for his role as Chair of the Citizens’ Assembly.
A spokesperson for the Assembly previously confirmed that Mr Reid could be remunerated.
They said: “As per the Terms of Reference for the Citizens’ Assembly as agreed by the Houses of the Oireachtas last week, the Assembly will make payment of an honorarium to the Chairperson at a per diem rate to be sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.”
The Assembly will begin to convene in April and will meet for six weekends in total. Some 99 members of the public will take part.
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