Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 550: To ask the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that all front-line vacancies which have been approved for replacement will be filled from 1 March despite the fact that advertisements have yet to be placed; and if he will confirm that standard HR procedures will be relaxed to ensure all necessary front-line positions will be filled without any delay. [12448/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Approximately 4,400 health service staff retired between September 2011 and February 2012. Planning for the impact of the end of the pensions "grace period" began last autumn. Contingency plans have been developed locally for hospital and community services, reflecting risk assessments undertaken by each hospital/community manager. These have been reviewed at regional and national levels to ensure appropriate measures are in place across all services. The focus is on protecting and maintaining critical front-line services such as Emergency Department, maternity, critical care and neonatal services.

In order to achieve this, it is essential that changes in work practices and in how services are organised are pursued in the first instance. These include staff redeployment, streamlining of management structures, changing business processes and integrating services, as well as rostering and skill-mix changes. Some recruitment of new staff is also taking place, to ensure that key specialist services are maintained. Such recruitment will be conducted in line with normal public service practice, including competitive selection procedures. However I must emphasise that, given the need to reduce the size and cost of the public service, recruitment will occur only where issues cannot be addressed through other measures.

Where permanent appointments are to be made, interim arrangements have where necessary been put in place at local level. These include obtaining agreement of part-time staff to work extra hours, postponement of leave and the short-term employment of recent graduates in some disciplines.