Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 175: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of EMTs who are currently employed in 2006; the number employed in the years 2004 and 2005; and when the cap on staffing of ambulances will be lifted. [18277/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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There is no embargo on recruitment to the ambulance service or elsewhere in the public health service. It is a matter for the Health Service Executive, as part of its responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services, to determine the appropriate staffing mix required to deliver services including ambulance services.

With regard to the detailed information sought by the Deputy my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 176: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children to justify her claim that 60 per cent of the health budget goes on wages and salaries within the health service; the breakdown of the difference in terms of salary and wages costs between administrative staff and clinical staff within the health service in that context; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18278/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Revised Estimates for Public Services 2006 provides €6.85 billion (or 58% of the Vote total) for gross Exchequer Pay and Pensions for the Health Service Executive (HSE). In addition, when account is taken of pay costs of approximately €1.3 billion associated with grants paid to voluntary bodies from the HSE Vote, the total pay costs amount to €8.143 billion or 69% of the total current provision of €11.814 billion for the HSE.

In relation to the breakdown between administrative and clinical staff, the Deputy may wish to note that I have repeatedly stressed the need for safeguarding and indeed enhancing the delivery of front line services and achieving an appropriate balance between clinical and non-clinical employment levels in the health service. This has been underlined by my Department in direct discussions with the HSE's senior management team and in the context of the finalisation of the Executive's National Service Plan for 2006. I believe that there is a general consensus that the organisation of human resources is critical to good service delivery. The proper management of employment levels and skill mix together with the prioritisation of front line services is of course central to the organisation of human resources and is the most effective mechanism for ensuring the best use of resources overall within the health service. Indeed it has previously been estimated by the Directors of Human Resources of the former Health Boards that as far as the balance between frontline and administrative staff is concerned, almost two-thirds of health services personnel nominally classified as "management/ administrative" are involved in direct service provision to the public.