Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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320. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the resource allocation model developed in his Department in 2012; if his will commit to using this model in allocating new staff posts, in view of the significant staff under-resourcing in areas of socio-economic deprivation, relative to affluent areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46970/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, an allocation of €20 million was set aside in the HSE's 2013 National Service Plan to strengthen primary care services. In this context, the HSE (Health Intelligence Unit and Primary Care Services working together) in 2012 developed a method of using census data together with data about current staffing levels to carry out a detailed analysis of the numbers and distribution of public health nurses, registered general nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.

This Resource Allocation Model was used in the allocation of approximately 250 Primary Care posts under the 2013 HSE National Service Plan. It is expected that the model will continue to be included, where applicable, in decision making around the allocation of any new staff posts under the 2015 National Service Plan.