Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I have sought the up to date position on PPARS from the Health Service Executive and it has informed me as follows:

The PPARS system is currently used for recording human resource data for 70,000 HSE staff and is used to pay 30,000 staff each week. The HSE's PPARS project review committee has completed its review. Arising from that, the HSE has decided on a set of actions aimed basically at meeting the requirements of the new unified health service with a single management, rather than those of separate health boards working on an IT project together, which is how the PPARS project started in 1995. These actions involve defining precisely the HSE's human resource, payroll and employee services requirements and maximising the efficiency of the project from its current situation.

This plan of action follows an update to the HSE board from the PPARS review committee, which highlighted that while the project is delivering many benefits, some business issues remain to be resolved. These include the major and ongoing changes since 1995 to the business environment in which the project operates; the need to further standardise processing systems and the need to clarify the project's objectives and scope within the new single structure. It is envisaged that this work will take several months to complete and I am anxious for it to be completed as quickly as possible.

The timing of this work has nothing to do with the general election taking place next summer. To suggest or speculate otherwise is wholly without foundation and an injustice to the HSE board and its management. The estimated costs of the work will have to be determined by the project group being established to progress these actions.

The recent request on the Government's e-tender website related to the HSE's request for assistance with the definition of its information and reporting needs to meet its requirements and obligations under the new unified HSE structure. The assistance being requested does not relate to the further roll-out of the PPARS project, the decision on which is being deferred until the necessary work has been completed.

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