The payout to Prof Nolan - who became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic when he served as a member of the high-profile National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) - is revealed in Science Foundation Ireland’s financial statements for 2024.

Mr Justice Mulcahy said the director general contract permitted the SFI board to dismiss Prof Nolan “for no reason at all”.

The High Court is hearing a dispute between Professor Philip Nolan and Science Foundation Ireland

The State-funded research agency announced on Tuesday morning that Prof Nolan was no longer director general and that a new acting head had been appointed.

Prof Nolan was notified on Monday night that he was being dismissed from his job as director general of the Science Foundation Ireland