Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

An easing of restrictions on the employment of additional staff was announced by the previous Government in budget 2015. Under this new approach, public sector organisations can obtain delegated sanction to recruit within the parameters of their pay budget once they obtain approval for their pay and numbers strategy from their parent Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This change allows for greater autonomy to be delegated to Departments and agencies to manage their staffing levels within allocated pay frameworks. It also provides for further recruitment flexibility, for example, where it is determined that offering permanent contracts can achieve more economical service delivery than agency usage. This practice is evident across the health service.

The Health Service Executive is working with the Department of Health on the finalisation of its 2016 pay and numbers strategy. This has involved the development of detailed workforce plans at hospital and community service level. Rather than HSE head office telling health service entities what their recruitment requirements are, the strategy involves a bottom-up approach to recruitment requirements. Meanwhile, the HSE has emphasised to service providers that they must operate within their pay budgets. This does do not impact on a hospital’s ability to recruit where there is funding available to facilitate recruitment, for example, in the case of funded replacement posts or where additional funding has been allocated for new positions under the HSE service plan. Mental health is one very important area in that regard, but recruitment can also take place in the areas of critical care and emergency services. I was pleased to be able to provide assurances for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in that regard this week.

The HSE has continuously increased staffing levels since the beginning of 2015. By the end of April this year, overall health service employee numbers had increased by more than 6,000 whole-time equivalents since the start of last year, with an extra 1,600 whole-time equivalent staff in the first four months of 2016 alone. The vast majority of these employees are in front-line positions. Numbers in the medical and dental category increased by almost 600 whole-time equivalents or 6.5% since the start of 2015, while nursing figures rose by more than 1,700 or 5% during the same timeframe. Let me be clear that the number of staff working on the front line of the health service increased this year and last year and will increase every year under the Government.

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