Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 638: To ask the Minister for Health if 3,200 staff leave the Health Service Executive whether that will have an effect on frontline services in the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3622/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It should also be noted that this data is subject to change in the event of additional applications being received or existing applications being withdrawn.

The health and personal social services that will be delivered by the HSE within its budget and anticipated staff complement are set out in the National Service Plan for 2012, which I approved on 13 January. It is clear that the cumulative impact of staff reductions from this year and previous years represents a significant challenge for the health system in delivering services. It increases the need for reform including greater flexibilities in work practices and rosters as well as redeployment. The Service Plan includes a commitment to addressing these issues within the context of the Public Service Agreement. It also commits the HSE to minimising the impact on services by fast tracking new, innovative and more efficient ways of using reducing financial and human resources. The Plan reflects the need to move to new models of care across all service areas which will treat patients at the lowest level of complexity and provide quality services at the least possible cost.

Other reform initiatives set out in the Plan include the development of proposals to protect the viability of community nursing units and to increase the intermediate care capacity for older people; a significant strengthening of primary care services; the enhancement of community mental health teams; a more tailored approach to disability services; and progression of the clinical care programmes.

I intend to review the Service Plan once the full impact of the staff leaving at the end of the 29 February "grace period" is known. In advance of this, I have asked the HSE Board to submit as a matter of urgency its assessment of the likely impact of retirements to the end of February, to identify particular pressure points and to develop appropriate measures to deal with significant departures in a given service or area.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 639: To ask the Minister for Health the reason the Health Service Executive in paying €200 million a year on agency workers rather than giving full-time jobs to suitable candidates. [3623/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In the health service, agency staff have traditionally been used to meet a short-term service need or where some flexibility in staffing a service is required. In 2011, although the HSE had negotiated new agency contracts which involve lower unit costs, the use of agency staff accounted for approximately €200 million. This was accounted for in part by the usage of agency staffing to cover longer-term staffing needs.

This is not a sustainable approach and the HSE's National Service Plan 2012 commits to significantly lowering the volume of agency usage across all staff functions, with a target reduction of up to 50% in 2012. The Plan also notes that the transposition into Irish law of the Temporary Agency Work Directive will increase the unit cost of agency staffing. The Service Plan indicates that a national policy in relation to overtime and agency use will be finalised in early 2012. This will reflect the commitment in the Plan that overtime and agency staffing are not to be used to support service levels beyond those agreed in the Plan or to substitute for staff losses as a result of the need to reduce health sector employment. The Service Plan also provides that if the employment ceiling and budgets allow, some substitution through recruitment and employment of staff at lower costs may be possible.