Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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627. To ask the Minister for Health the progress to date on the examination by the HSE and the Department of Health into progressing the roll-out of the pandemic recognition payment to the list of non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government decision; the estimated timeline for when all eligible frontline workers, including healthcare facility cleaning staff subcontracted through a company (details supplied), will receive the pandemic recognition payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45142/22]

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 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.

While my Department does not comment on individual cases, 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.

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.