Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

23. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 5 of 20 March 2013, if he will indicate the reason the €20 million ring-fenced in the 2013 national service plan for the recruitment of 250 primary care posts has not been fully drawn down; if he will provide an update on the placement of new therapy posts to primary care teams across the four Health Service Executive regions, including those who have commenced working and those who are on a panel to be selected; if he will identify the regions most lacking in therapy providers and the proposals to tackle this gap in this financial year in view of the constraints on the 2014 service plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6874/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government to a significant strengthening of primary care services, the National Service Plan 2013 provided for additional funding of €20 million to support the recruitment of prioritised front-line primary care team posts and enhance the capacity of the primary care sector (€18.525m for the recruitment of 264.5 posts to support Primary Care Teams and €1.475m to support the development and enhancement of Community Intervention Teams). The additional primary care posts included Public Health Nurses (PHNs), Registered General Nurses (RGNs), Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs).

The breakdown of the 264.5 posts by HSE Region is as follows:

As at the 6^th January 2014, a total of 160.0 (60%) of the posts have been filled. The following table sets out the geographical spread of these posts across the four regions.

A further 51.0 posts have been offered to candidates with start dates to be agreed and the remaining 53.5 posts are still going through the recruitment process, with the HSE's National Recruitment Service organising additional recruitment competitions to enable filling of these posts. A Resource Allocation Model was developed and the posts were allocated based on the analysis carried out by the HSE in identifying areas of deprivation and need. The allocation and distribution of the posts was based on bringing each Integrated Service Area, where staffing is below the national average, towards the national average.

The HSE is committed to having all the posts filled and in place by the 2^nd quarter of 2014 and funding has been drawn down for all the posts filled to date.