Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

The Minister replied to a similar question tabled by me on 25 November 2008, when she provided far more information than she gave in her initial short reply today. How much work has been done in this area? There is little point in letting go any staff who express a wish to retire regardless of their role or the area in which they work. Is there any strategy attached to the proposed redundancy scheme in terms of, for example, taking out administrative grades? One of the criticisms of the Health Service Executive is that its establishment involved the imposition of additional staffing structures on the existing structure of 11 health boards and other organisations. The common perception is that the various layers of management are causing delays in the system. Is there a strategy in terms of taking out layers of management rather than retiring people out of the system in a willy-nilly fashion?

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