Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Health the number of redundancies both voluntary and mandatory, respectively, which arose on foot of the cut to funding of section 39 agencies in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16692/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Agencies funded under Section 39 of the Health Act 2004 are not public service bodies and their employees are not public servants. Therefore, neither my Department nor the HSE collects employment statistics or information on redundancies or retirements in such agencies.

However, the grant funding of Section 39 Agencies was subject to the general efficiency savings for the health sector provided for in Budget 2010. Accordingly, it is entirely appropriate that Section 39 Agencies and other HSE-funded voluntary providers take appropriate measures to ensure that they continued to provide the same level of service, notwithstanding the reductions in their funding. It is the responsibility of each individual employer to decide exactly what mix of actions should be taken to achieve this goal, to take appropriate legal and other advice, to consult and inform its employees/trade unions as necessary and to manage the HR and industrial relations implications of its decisions.