David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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641. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated number of healthcare staff eligible for the pandemic bonus payment; the number of staff paid to date; the expected timeframe for completion of all payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35362/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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642. To ask the Minister for Health the number of directly-employed HSE staff who are eligible for the pandemic bonus payment; the number of staff paid to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35363/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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643. To ask the Minister for Health the number of agency staff who are eligible for the pandemic bonus payment; the number paid to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35364/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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644. To ask the Minister for Health the number of contract staff who are eligible for the pandemic bonus payment; the number paid to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35365/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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645. To ask the Minister for Health the number of staff in healthcare who do bank hours and are eligible for the pandemic bonus payment; the number paid to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35366/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 641 to 645, inclusive, together.

Firstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this challenging period.

As the deputy is aware, on January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: 

www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html.

Payment is currently receiving priority across all Hospital Groups and Community Services in the HSE and will be completed as soon as possible. As of Friday, 1st July, approximately than 75,815 eligible HSE and Section 38 staff have received payment around the country. All payments across the HSE and Section 38 organisations are being progressed by local management and each site will assess the eligibility of their staff before processing payment. As eligibility is still being assessed across sites locally, I cannot provide you with an estimated number of public service workers who are eligible to receive the payment.  

The HSE and the Department are currently examining progressing the rollout to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. Rolling out the payment to eligible non-HSE and non-Section 38 employees is a complex task, particularly as these employees are not normally paid by the public health service, duplicate payments need to be avoided, and there are many organisations to be covered. It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/S38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff. This shall cover eligible staff in:

1. Private Sector Nursing Homes and Hospices (e.g. Private, Voluntary, Section 39 etc.);

2. Eligible staff working on-site in Section 39 long-term residential care facilities for people with disabilities;

3. Agency roles working in the HSE;

4. Health Care Support Assistants (also known as home help / home care / home support) contracted to the HSE;

5. Redeployed members of the Defence Forces to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments for the HSE;

6. Paramedics employed by the Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage.

As the rollout of payments to the eligible workers highlighted above has not yet begun, and eligibility has not yet been assessed across the private sector, I cannot provide an estimated number of workers who will receive the payment. We expect the rollout to begin shortly and for eligible workers to be paid as soon as possible. 

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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646. To ask the Minister for Health the method being used to pay directly employed HSE staff the pandemic bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35367/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Firstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.

As the deputy is aware, on January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: 

www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html.

Payments are receiving priority across all Hospital Groups and Community Services in the HSE to those eligible to receive it. The payments are being processed through local payroll administrators to eligible workers and will be seen in paychecks once the payment has been processed.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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647. To ask the Minister for Health the method being used to pay agency staff the pandemic bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35368/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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648. To ask the Minister for Health the method being used to pay contract staff the pandemic bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35369/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 647 and 648 together.

Firstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.

As the deputy is aware, on January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: 

www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html.

The HSE and the Department are currently examining progressing the rollout to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/S38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff, including how staff will be paid. This shall cover eligible staff in:

1. Private Sector Nursing Homes and Hospices (e.g. Private, Voluntary, Section 39 etc.);

2. Eligible staff working on-site in Section 39 long-term residential care facilities for people with disabilities;

3. Agency roles working in the HSE;

4. Health Care Support Assistants (also known as home help / home care / home support) contracted to the HSE;

5. Redeployed members of the Defence Forces to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments for the HSE;

6. Paramedics employed by the Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage.