David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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411. To ask the Minister for Health the funding provided to recruit staff into the HSE in 2020; the target number of additional staff to be recruited in 2020; the actual number of staff recruited in that year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10731/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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During the planning process for 2020, affordable limits for staffing were used to ensure workforce growth in the HSE remained within the allocated budgets and in line with Government policy on public service numbers and costs. In the National Service Plan 2020, the affordable limit for December 2020 was identified as 121,311 WTE, excluding centrally held and development funding, and 123,701 WTE including centrally held and development funding. This equates to an increase of 1,494 WTE or 3,884 WTE over end 2019 levels. These were initial estimates of affordability limits which were to be further developed and finalised alongside the Department of Health in the finalisation of the Pay and Numbers Strategy 2020.

Due to the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, there was an immediate need to increase the health sector workforce on a temporary, emergency basis. Putting a limit on recruitment was no longer appropriate, and many recruitment avenues were utilised to ensure the health service was adequately staffed. The priority for the remainder of 2020 was therefore the need to expand the workforce to meet the demands of the health service.

2020 saw an increase of an additional 6,357 WTE, which is the largest annual increase in staffing since the foundation of the HSE.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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412. To ask the Minister for Health the funding provided to recruit staff into the HSE in 2021; the target number of additional staff to be recruited in 2021; the actual number of staff recruited in that year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10732/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Given the commitment to ensuring sufficient staffing levels to meet both COVID-related and long-term healthcare demand, Budget 2021 provided funding for a significant expansion of the workforce including making permanent funding available for some workers employed in 2020 on a temporary, emergency basis, and also allowing the workforce to grow further in 2021. The Pay and Numbers Strategy for 2021 identified a recruitment target of an additional 14,567 WTE across all staff categories and service areas in 2021.

The National Service Plan was underpinned by the assumption that there would be no greater than Level 3 COVID-19 measures and excluded a National Vaccination Programme rollout. The COVID-19 surge in Q1, coupled with significant demand for testing and tracing and unprecedented levels of COVID-19 related absence rates, significantly impacted the HSE’s ability to recruit in the first quarter. In addition, a National Vaccination Programme was rolled out with the immediate establishment of mass vaccination centres across the country, which required a large amount of external recruitment capacity. Through third party recruitment agencies, the HSE recruited approximately 3,000 people in COVID-19 vaccination centres and for test and trace operations. These recruits are excluded from recruitment targets as they are not directly employed by the HSE.

While the target of 14,567 was pursued strongly by the HSE, it was agreed mid-year that the targets under the Pay and Numbers Strategy for 2021 should be reduced given a shortfall in the beginning months of the year. The target was revised down to an additional 7,370 WTE by the end of 2021.

In 2021, there was an increase of 6,149 WTE. This is the second largest annual increase in staffing since the foundation of the HSE, after 2020. Recruitment targets not achieved in 2021 form part of recruitment targets for 2022 and are included in the upper recruitment target of approximately 10,000 in 2022.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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413. To ask the Minister for Health the funding provided to recruit staff into the HSE for 2022; the target number of additional staff to be recruited in 2022; his views on whether the higher target will be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10733/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2022 secured funding for up to an additional 10,000 WTE, reflecting the level of ambition and desire to invest in our health services. However, there are a range of targets set out in the draft National Service Plan. The targeted recruitment for this year continues to address any identified staff shortages across grades and service areas.

Discussions between the Department and HSE officials agreed that, due to the current challenging recruitment environment, 5,500 WTE is a more achievable target for 2022. The upper affordable limit of 10,000 WTE is not seen as undeliverable, but rather one that will be ambitious and challenging to achieve, given the risks affecting labour supply. It is worth noting that these recruitment targets are additional WTE and do not include the replacement of existing staff who retire/leave during the year.

The HSE identified the more realistic recruitment target of 5,500 WTE alongside a more challenging ‘stretch’ target of 10,000 WTE set out in the National Service Plan. The Department has been working closely with the HSE to assess potential savings and further decisions on how this funding will be used will be taken. Actual recruitment will, as always, be monitored by the HSE and the Department throughout the course of the year under the governance and oversight arrangements in place.