Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 439: To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that agency nurses employed by Nurse on Call, who are the sole contractors for the Health Service Executive, are having major difficulties regarding payment of their wages and other HR related issues such as being unable to communicate with their new employers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19820/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that concerns have been raised with the HSE concerning payment of wages by Nurse on Call for some agency nurses. Nurse on Call were awarded the contract for the provision of agency nurses on foot of a competitive tendering process. Since 13 March 2011, Nurse on Call is the contracted agency for the provision of Agency Nurses to HSE Dublin, HSE Mid-Leinster, HSE South and HSE Dublin - North East.

Nurse on Call, prior to being awarded the large HSE contract, used to run a daily payroll which effectively meant that nurses could be paid whenever they wanted. However, due to the increase in volume, it was necessary for Nurse on Call to switch to a weekly payroll in line with industry standard. This has caused some problems as now all staff must adhere to a strict deadline of Tuesday at noon for submission of timesheets. I understand this to be the root cause of the issues that have arisen. Nurse on Call has confirmed that all queries in relation to payroll are made via email and are all answered within 24 hours, Monday to Friday. Queries that are made over the weekend are answered first thing on Monday morning.