Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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600. To ask the Minister for Health when all of the remaining groups that are eligible for the pandemic recognition payment but have not received it to date, will be able to apply for the payment; when they will receive payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44951/22]

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.

The rollout of the Pandemic Recognition Payment is currently receiving priority across all Hospital Groups and Community Services in the HSE. As of Friday, 09 September, 85,078 eligible HSE staff have received payment around the country. This number excludes Section 38 agencies which are estimated to have paid 37,589 staff to date thereby bringing the total number of employees paid to 122,667 .

In relation to the number of eligible HSE/Section 38 staff that are yet to be paid, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly.

The HSE and the Department have been examining progressing the rollout of the Pandemic Recognition Payment to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. This measure will be ring fenced to staff working ordinarily onsite in COVID-19 exposed healthcare environments. 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.Members of the Defence Forces redeployed to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments in the HSE;

6.Paramedics employed by Dublin Fire Brigade to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.

Information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/non-Section 38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff. Once this process is published, the Department is keen that payments to eligible workers will be made as soon as possible thereafter.

As the rollout of payments to the eligible workers in non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisations 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.

Rolling out the payment to eligible employees of those specific non-HSE/Section 38 organisations covered by the government decision 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, but this work is being given priority attention.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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601. To ask the Minister for Health if he has received an update from the HSE on the roll-out of the pandemic bonus payment; and the arrangements in particular that have been made for contract workers [44953/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you for your correspondence on behalf of contract workers.

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

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. This measure will be ring fenced to staff working ordinarily onsite in COVID-19 exposed healthcare environments.

Information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/Section 38 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.Members of the Defence Forces redeployed to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments in the HSE;

6.Paramedics employed by Dublin Fire Brigade to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.

The above 6 areas only are covered by this Government Decision and all eligible workers will be paid in accordance with the overarching eligibility criteria in place. Once this process is published, the Department is keen that payments to eligible workers will be made as soon as possible thereafter.

Rolling out the payment to eligible employees of those specific non-HSE/Section 38 organisations covered by the government decision 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, but this work is being given priority attention. Officials are continuing work to progress this large complex project, and further consideration is actively underway on how and where this would best be expedited.

I want to reassure you that the Government is prioritising this payment and remains extremely appreciative for all our healthcare workers’ efforts in the fight against Covid-19.