Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan earns an annual salary of more than €187,000.
And his deputies, including the high profile Dr Ronan Glynn, make between €104,000 and €126,000.
In the HSE’s annual financial report, it also emerged its chief executive Paul Reid is on €358,651 but with allowances that rises to €426,208.
He also receives a benefit in kind to cover the cost of a company car.
In his opening notes on the report, Mr Reid wrote: “2020 was a year like no other, not just for our health service, but for the entire nation.
“As an organisation we prepared carefully for the virus that was spreading across the globe with early discussions focused on creating extra beds within our existing hospital infrastructure and using private hospitals.
“However, we did not know the scale of what was to come.
“I am immensely impressed by how the people living in this country worked with the public health system in handling the pandemic, and as chief executive officer I am particularly proud of the responsiveness of our health service.
“There has never been change implemented so quickly by so many with such great impact.
“This is a reflection of the commitment, hard work and perseverance of our staff.
“There are also many learnings that we must take from this pandemic, and it is important to consider what worked well and what we could have done better as an organisation.”
