Paul Reid (HSE)
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Paul Reid (born 3 December 1964) is an Irish public servant, who has served as chairperson of An Coimisiún Pleanála since June 2025. He served as
Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...
of the
Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) () is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005. The current director-general is Berna ...
, the Irish national health service, from April 2019 to October 2022, He previously was chief executive of
Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...
from 2014 to 2019, and before that worked in Ireland's
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digital ...
and an international development charity, after a 25-year career with telecom service provider
Eircom Eircom Limited, trading as Eir ( ; stylised eir), is a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland. The company, which is currently incorporated in Jersey, traces its origins to Ireland's former state-owned monopol ...
and its predecessors.


Life


Early life

Reid was born on 3 December 1964 and raised in
Finglas Finglas (; ) is a northwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies close to Junction 5 of the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorway, and the N2 road (Ireland), N2 road. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun; Du ...
,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. 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 Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism, ...
. He received a nomination to run for election but pulled out at the last minute.


Career

At age 16, Reid began his first job as a trainee installer at the
Department of Posts and Telegraphs Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. The job involved connecting landline telephones to homes and businesses, climbing telephone poles on the roadside to run lines. In 2005, Reid began his second job working for
Eircom Eircom Limited, trading as Eir ( ; stylised eir), is a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland. The company, which is currently incorporated in Jersey, traces its origins to Ireland's former state-owned monopol ...
as an underground cable jointer and later qualified as a
technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Specialisation The term technician covers many different special ...
. By the time he left Eircom in 2010, he was executive director of networks and operations. Studying at night, he took a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in human resources and industrial relations at the
National College of Ireland National College of Ireland (NCI) (''Coláiste Náisiúnta na hÉireann'' (''CNÉ'') in Irish) is a not-for-profit, state-aided third-level education institution in Dublin. It was founded in 1951 as a joint venture between the Jesuits in Ir ...
, and later a
Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
at
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
. From 2010 to 2011, he was head of corporate affairs with international development charity
Trócaire Trócaire (, meaning "compassion") is an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) which is based in Ireland. It was founded, in 1973, as the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Trócaire is involved ...
, where he worked on an agenda to strengthen the governance of the organisation and on the improvements in HR, finance, risk management and communications. From 2011 to 2014, Reid joined the
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digital ...
as the
chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
. 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. 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 Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...
rejected its findings. In 2014, he was appointed
chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...
. Following an open competition by the Public Appointment Service, Reid was appointed to the position of Director-General at the
Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) () is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005. The current director-general is Berna ...
on 2 April 2019. In his role he led over 117,000 staff who delivered a wide range of health services across Ireland. He said that his vision for the health service was to focus on long term planning by implementing
Sláintecare Sláintecare is a proposed reform of the Healthcare in the Republic of Ireland, healthcare system of Ireland. Pronounced , the name is derived from ''sláinte'' , the Irish language, Irish word for "health." The intent of the Sláintecare refor ...
and delivering effective and safe services within available resources. Reid tweeted on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that he left his position as Chief Executive of Fingal County Council on the same day he was appointed Director-General at the HSE. He earned a salary of €420,103 in 2021. On 27 June 2022, Reid announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Director-General of the
Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) () is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005. The current director-general is Berna ...
at the end of the year "to spend time with his family". 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. On 28 February 2023, it was announced that Reid had been appointed Chairperson of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use in Ireland. On 17 June 2025, Reid was named as the chairperson of An Coimisiún Pleanála, which replaced An Bord Pleanála, and would receive an annual salary of €50,000.


Personal life

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


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Paul People from Finglas Alumni of the National College of Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Health Service Executive people Living people 1964 births