Damien is currently the Chief Operations Officer in the HSE responsible for oversight of day-to-day operations within the HSE and over 100,000 staff. The HSE is responsible for the delivery of Health and Social care in Ireland.
He recently took on a lead role in the COVID pandemic response as the head of the successful Vaccination and Test &Trace programmes. These were a key part of the nation’s public health response to the pandemic.
He has held a variety of roles prior to this including leading the HSE’s response to the screening crisis and re-establishing trust in the states cervical screening programme. He also was Head of the National Ambulance Service, Head of ICT in the HSE, National Director for Emergency Management and Special Delivery Unit, led the establishment of regions in the HSE as part of a major reform programme and was Area Manager for Health Services in the North West. Prior to this, he worked in the airline industry for ten years.
He has also had a strong interest in cross border co-operation and served as chairperson and Director General of the organisation responsible for cross border health programmes, CAWT. He is also currently the Deputy Chairperson of Safefood, which is an all-island body set up under the British-Irish Agreement Act 1999 to promote awareness and knowledge of food safety and nutrition on the island of Ireland.
Damien originally qualified from Letterkenny IT in computing and subsequently completed an MSC in Innovation Management between University of Ulster and Letterkenny IT.