Results 31,701-31,720 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: To the committee.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: Not to me personally. That would give us a sense of the figures. The executive represents probably a third of State employees.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I preface my remarks by saying I am arguing about this but want the information to get an understanding of the figures.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: Are different rates paid in respect of subsistence allowance for different grades of staff? In other words, if a paramedic is away from base for X number of hours or if a doctor has sessional hours in more than one hospital and is away from his or her base, would they both get the same rate? Are there different rates of subsistence allowances for meals depending on one's grade?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I ask Mr. O'Brien to forward us a note on that. I wish to ask about a related issue. We talked about travel undertaken by staff and a travel allowance is a visible allowance members of the public can identify as being paid to a person for travel undertaken in the course of his or her work. Home care assistants, community nurses, social workers and others are on the road every hour of the...
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: No. I would not have thought so. Are there many ambulance managers in the country?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: A few dozen?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: Mr. O'Brien might explain the nature of that as I genuinely do not understand it. Obviously an ambulance would be called if an incident occurred but to what type of incident would an ambulance manager come out? What is the role or function of an ambulance manager or to what types of cases would he or she come out? Surely an ambulance manager would only come out in the event of major...
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: Yes. Blue light vehicles.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: The Garda would be able to identify them arriving at the scene.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I would like a note to be forwarded to the committee on how many of these vehicles the executive has. We ask all Departments about travel and subsistence allowances.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I thank our guests for attending. Are there many medical staff who are currently operating in administrative or managerial roles and who are still in receipt of allowances meant for front-line staff? Do many medical staff transfer into managerial or administrative positions?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I accept that probably happens more in the area of, for example, local government than in the health service.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: That is fine. The general picture emerging from these proceedings is that there are approximately 67,000 direct HSE staff, of whom 41,000 - in the region of two thirds - are in receipt of allowances. Our guests indicated that there are of the order of 36,000 people operating in the voluntary sector. One could assume, therefore, that approximately 24,000 of the latter are in receipt of some...
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: So there should not be any major surprises.
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I am not arguing with the definition of allowances which has been provided by our guests because it is probably clearer than those which have been supplied by various Departments, etc. Perhaps Mr. Barry O'Brien's point to the effect that the allowances paid by the HSE have been adjudicated on by the Labour Court is germane because the allowances paid to gardaí and members of the Defence...
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: The HSE's terminology would be more specific because it has been before the Labour Court in respect of this matter. That is an important distinction. Are all the allowances under consideration today taxable and pensionable?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: Are many of them pensionable?
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: I see that. How many of these allowances are identified on individual employees' payslips? Mr. Barry O'Brien referred to the eight HSE payroll systems. I was going to mention the situation relating to PPARS, which was at the different stages of integration in different parts of the health sector. That integration process was halted at a particular point when a controversy arose. The...
- Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive - Review of Allowances (8 Nov 2012)
Seán Fleming: It is operating in my area, the midlands.