Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health the sectors of the public sector that are currently employed on a roster basis and if there are any plans to remove employees from the rostering system. [49075/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Health, I am replying to this question only insofar as it relates to the health sector.

Where it is necessary to provide services on an extended-hours or 24-hour basis, staff are rostered for duty to ensure an appropriate match between the staff available and service required. Provision is also made, where appropriate, for some staff to be off duty but on-call to meet urgent but unpredictable service needs. Health service managers keep rosters under review to ensure the most cost-effective staffing arrangements having regard to service needs and to achieve optimum patient care. There are no general plans to cease the rostering of staff, as such arrangements are key to the provision of essential health services to the population.