Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when he expects to be in a position to offer a voluntary scheme to non-frontline employees in the Health Service Executive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5681/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a voluntary targeted early retirement scheme and redundancy scheme for employees in the 'Management/Administration' and the 'General Support Staff' categories was made available in the health sector late last year. 2,006 individuals (of whom 1,409 were HSE employees) availed of these exit schemes.

The Government is committed to bringing about a significant reduction in the number of staff across the public service over the period to 2015, to realise efficiencies in the delivery of public services and contribute to the overall correction of the national finances, while protecting front-line services as far as possible. The Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform is currently considering the range of measures that will be necessary to bring about the necessary numbers reductions. Policy measures across various areas of Government activity should contribute to this overall objective, and the Government will be carrying out a Comprehensive Review of Expenditure this year to examine all areas where savings and numbers reductions might be identified. Part of the overall policy on public service numbers may involve voluntary staff exit mechanisms, and the options in this regard will be considered by the Government in this overall context.