Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for selecting this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, particularly as I am raising a west of Ireland issue, the Saolta Hospital Group, although it may be something that is relevant to other hospital groups as well. I am not sure about that.

We all appreciate and accept the sacrifices that front-line healthcare workers made over the past two years during the Covid-19 period and, indeed, before that in a very challenging health service environment. We know front-line healthcare workers have put their safety and health on the line, stayed apart from vulnerable loved-ones and held the hands of patients who passed away from all kinds of illnesses, including Covid-19.

These healthcare professionals worked long shifts in double PPE, not knowing what the future held for themselves, their families or their patients. Many of them suffered burn-out because having spent months and years in high-stress environments, they could take no more. Some have reached retirement age while some have opted to take early retirement because they can give no more. They were rightly hailed as heroes and nobody disagreed with their receiving a €1,000 bonus as a gesture of thanks and recognition by Government. However, when these heroes inquire about their pension entitlements after years of service, they are not treated like heroes, or at least not in the west. They face months, if not up to a year's, delay in getting a response as to what level of pension they are entitled to, and many retire without knowing exactly what their pension will be and when they will receive it.

I think the Minister of State will accept it is not unreasonable to expect that on retirement, you will receive your hard-earned pension but many healthcare workers in the west have to wait months for payment. I know of one case where a nurse, aged over 60, seeking early retirement because of burn-out and serious back problems, inquired of Saolta in March 2021 as to what her pension entitlement would be if she retired in early 2022. She followed up by phone in the summer of 2021 to be told that it could be early 2022 when she would be informed of her pension entitlement. Here we are in 2022 and she still has received no answer. She must now make the decision without knowing what she is entitled to. She has also been told by colleagues who have retired that she should set aside money because she will not be paid for months, when she retires. One colleague retired from Saolta in October 2020 but was not paid until the following March.

This is no way to treat healthcare staff who have given their working lives in service of their community. There can be no excuses. I ask the Minister of State to ensure the Department follows up and insists the Saolta Hospital Group puts in place the resources to make sure that retiring healthcare staff are treated properly and can retire with dignity and peace of mind.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Kyne for raising that question. As a former financier, the basic thing anybody wants to know about his or her pension is what his or her entitlement is and how to make provisions into the future. That is the essence of pensions. I have a script that I will read. It has been forwarded by the HSE in the west, from Saolta, but I do not accept the answer. It is not good enough, but I will give it to the Senator because people have come to him as they have to me. The answer is not acceptable. Using the pandemic and the cyberattack as a reason for not being able to tell a person his or her basic entitlements is not acceptable in this day and age. We all know that what you put it in, you get out, and it is accrued on an annual basis. Whether you have done 15 years or 30 years, you should know what your accruals are. I will read this script because the Senator will get a flavour of why I feel strongly about this.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the Senator for raising the issue. As I am sure he is aware, the HSE administers a pension service for its employees as well as for other health employers, such as certain hospitals. The HSE pensions administration function, like other support and administration functions, faced significant challenges over the past two years during Covid-19. Due to the pandemic, the HSE had to move its pension function to remote working at short notice. This involved significant challenges which included providing remote access to a variety of computer systems.

As the Senator is no doubt aware, pension processing is a complex operation that involves calculation of pension benefits which includes estimates, retirement benefits, temporary rehabilitation remuneration and injury grants to name but a few. In addition to the technical challenges at the outset of the pandemic, a significant number of pension staff was redeployed to support the emergency efforts, Covid-19 recruitment and contact tracing.This necessary temporary redeployment also has an impact on the delivery of pension services.

This situation was then compounded in May 2021 by the devastating impact of the cyberattack on the HSE. While it may now be a distant memory, the pension service is still dealing with the impact of the attack. The fact that access to all computerised systems ceased overnight had a massive impact on the HSE pension administration function. While access to most systems has now been restored, there are significant backlogs which the pension services must now work through.

The HSE recognises the challenges in the administration of the pensions and, as such, has implement a service improvement programme across the country. In order to address any current delays, the HSE suggests that any individuals who are experiencing difficulties in relation to their retirement benefit should make direct contact with their local pension office. The HSE remains committed to providing an inefficient and effective pension administration service to its employees.

The Senator will understand why, at the start of my response, I stood away from the answer provided. The lady in question has been trying to access this service for 12 months. At the end of the day, she has done X number of years service, and regardless of whether we had a cyberattack in 2021, at a certain point in time she will have known what her accruals were by that date and time.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her official reply and also her frankness on this issue. It is not good enough and I think she will accept that. She has admitted it is not good enough. Why is it happening in the HSE? Is it not happening in any other organisation? Is it happening in the Department of Education, for example? I have not heard that it is.

Yes, there was a cyberattack. However, the information has not been wiped out, I presume. It has not disappeared. It is there and it needs to be processed. Yes, pensions are complex, and I appreciate that. However, people have worked long years of service in difficult conditions and they are entitled to their pension. It is likely that it is an issue not only in the west but nationwide and it needs to be sorted.

I am sure this issue is raised at management board meetings within the Department. I urge the Minister of State to continue to insist that resources are provided to all hospital groups to ensure people are paid their pensions quickly and efficiently and they get the information they are entitled to regarding their entitlement.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will raise this particular issue with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to ensure the Department gets involved at this stage. Workers have a right to access this. The Department knows that the ICT systems in the HSE are back up and running, not just across the Saolta group but in all the various groups. I will also ask that this matter be included on the agenda for the next board meeting in the Department in order that Mr. Robert Watt can ensure there is a clear line for people who are retiring to know what their entitlements are in 2022.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I am sure Mr. Watt knows what his pension entitlements are.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I have no doubt.