Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While the Deputy now states she is aware of that, as that was not clear from her question, let me explain it to her. As a result of that audit, each agency was asked to revert to the HSE. Some came back very quickly showing that they were complying, others came back showing they were not and in the case of some others, it was necessary to follow through with them. However, this was an exercise the HSE conducted at the direction of the Minister for Health. That process now is coming to a conclusion. The Government has information that has been submitted by the different agencies and it is being followed through. At present, 17 senior managers of the HSE are pursuing this matter with the various agencies concerned in order to drill down into what payments are being made, what is their nature and so on. The chief executive officer of the HSE is meeting the chairperson of each section 38 agency, first, to clarify all of the facts and, second, to make it absolutely clear to them what is expected of them with regard to pay policy. There will be transparency in this regard and there will be compliance with public pay policy. This will be structured in such a way that each agency will be required to sign a compliance statement each year. This compliance statement will be part and parcel of the arrangements and will be separate from the service agreement that such agencies much sign with the HSE in any event. The Deputy asked what recourse is open to the HSE if such agencies are not compliant. If an agency cannot sign the compliance agreement, there are consequences in terms of the portions of public funding that go to the payment of salaries and, certainly, that go to the payment of any of these top-up arrangements. Consequently, there are options that will be open to the HSE but it will centre on the compliance statement being signed by each agency. This is a matter on which the Government already has taken action. The information that now was in the public domain is as a result of the audit conducted by the HSE. It is being followed through by the HSE management and by the Minister for Health and I am glad it also is being dealt with by the Committee of Public Accounts.

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