Written Answers - Health Service Staff Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 754 No. 4 Page of 182

  203.  Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin      asked the Minister for Health      if he will provide the breakdown, by profession and-or responsibility, of the total expected departure of all health service employees by the end of the current month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7217/12]

  208.  Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin      asked the Minister for Health      the detail of his dynamic contingency plan to address the imminent crisis that will present following the signalled departure of up to 3,700 employees across the health service. [7222/12]

Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly):    I propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 208 together.

The Government has determined that, in line with its commitment to reduce the size of the public service, health sector employment numbers must be reduced to approximately 102,000 in 2012. The cumulative impact of staff reductions from this year and previous years represents a significant challenge for the health system in delivering services. The priority is to reform how health services are delivered in order to ensure a more productive and cost effective health system.

The most recent information available from the HSE indicates that, over the period from September 2011 to end-February 2012, some 3,800 health service staff will have retired from the health service. Of this total, approximately 2,200 persons (54%) have already retired during the five-month period to the end of January 2012, while the remainder have indicated that they will leave by the end of February 2012. It should be noted that these figures refer to the number of individuals rather than wholetime equivalents (WTE). It should also be noted that this data is subject to change in the event of additional applications being received or existing applications being withdrawn.

Contingency planning is being undertaken as part of the annual National Service Planning process. All factors, including budgets, staffing levels and other emerging issues, including the impact of “Grace Period” retirements are being factored into the regional plans which the HSE is currently finalising. I also intend to review the HSE Service Plan once the full impact of staff leaving at the end of the 29 February “grace period” is known.

The scale of retirements to take place by 29th February 2012 will prove challenging for the health services. The HSE is seeking to mitigate the impact of these retirements through the implementation of the National Clinical Programmes, targeted investment and recruitment as set out in the National Service Plan and in utilising the provisions of the Public Service Agreement (PSA) to bring about greater flexibilities. The measures under the PSA include flexibilit[782]ies in work practices and rosters, redeployment and other changes to achieve more efficient delivery of services.

The following table sets out the latest data from HSE broken down by grade:

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