Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he has received reports that the early retirement scheme impacted on frontline services, and the quality of patient care; if he will provide a breakdown on where services were affected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37076/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I have not received any reports from the HSE indicating that exits during the Grace Period impacted on frontline services or on the quality of patient care.

Of over 4,000 serving staff who left in the period September 2011 to February 2012, fewer than 500 were in posts which were deemed service or safety-critical, for example in services such as maternity, paediatrics, neo-natal and Emergency Departments. Arrangements were made to address these critical needs through, for example reassignment of staff, reorganisation of services and limited recruitment. The Government is committed to reducing the size of the public service and the health service must contribute to the achievement of this objective. Health numbers have already been reduced by over 9,000 wholetime equivalents, from a peak of 111,500 at the end of 2007. The target for 2012 is to reduce numbers to approximately 102,000 and it is expected that this will be met. But further reductions will be needed in the coming years to meet the target set by Government. This requires further and substantial change in how services are organised and how people work.

The Public Service Agreement is a key instrument in managing the reductions in resources in a structured way throughout the services. The provisions of the Public Service Agreement continue to be used to bring about greater flexibilities in work practices and rosters, and maximising redeployment to achieve more efficient delivery of services. Staff resources will continue to be allocated to areas of greatest priority.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health if the position of independent advisor on the financial performance of the Health Service Executive was tendered for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37077/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to the independent expert from the UK who was engaged to undertake a review of the financial management of the HSE in June 2012. The rules regarding procurement, as set out in the Public Procurement Guidelines, state that a competitive process should be used unless there are justifiably exceptional circumstances. The Secretary General of my Department, who commissioned the review, took the view that such exceptional circumstances pertained in this instance, due to the deteriorating financial position of the HSE and the need to inform discussions at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Health in early July.

The UK expert who was engaged to carry out the review is highly qualified and has many years experience in management, finance and operations in the NHS in England and a record for delivering financial results at organisational and regional level in the NHS and delivering on the financial recovery of challenged organisations.