Fine Gael have sought information on the criteria for the bonus award, which is being paid in addition to Drumm's 320,000 annual salary. The party's health spokesman Brian Hayes told the Sunday Tribune that the criteria on which the perk was determined must be made public.

"There is no justification for the payment of this bonus. If this was the private sector and progress had not been achieved then a peformance bonus would not be paid. The health sector should be no different. I want to know what criteria was used to award this bonus, " Hayes said.

"The HSE got it wrong on its recruitment embargo and we have seen its inability to spend money from last year, money that was then lost to it.

These are two glaring examples of an inability of management yet Prof Drumm and others have still received their bonuses, " he added.

Hayes's remarkes were echoed by Liz McManus of the Labour Party.

"Patients on trolleys in A&E departments and those waiting for surgery will wonder how the HSE chief executive could receive such a generous bonus, " McManus said.

The Labour Party is understood to have decided that if the party had been returned to government after the recent general election then Drumm would have been given a fixed timetable for an improvement in services. Had he failed to meet that target, his position would have been reviewed.

"This is the latest evidence that the HSE is not working, " McManus said. "The HSE was supposed to deliver better services for patients and better value for taxpayers. It does not appear to be achieving either."

The embattled HSE boss is expected to face tough questioning when he appears before the new Oireachtas Health Committee in over a month's time. "There will be more difficult questions on this occasion, " Hayes predicted.

Since Drumm's appointment to the top position in the HSE two years ago he has received two bonuses . . . the first for 32,000 and now an 80,000 award.

Almost 100 other senior managers in the HSE are also going to receive significant bonus awards for their involvement in merging the old health boards into the HSE.

However, according to Fine Gael, it is unclear what role is actually played by many senior HSE administrative personnel.

"From information I have received, the HSE has eight national directors and 81 assistant national directors. I have yet to get an answer from the HSE or from Mary Harney as to the breakdown about what these people are actually doing, " the Fine Gael health spokesman said.