Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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565. To ask the Minister for Health if the funding for payment of the €1,000 pandemic bonus payment has been transferred to the accounts of private nursing homes and the accounts of agencies in the health sector; and if so, the date that the transfer took place. [47890/22]

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 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.

It is hoped that 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.

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, and it is expected that timeframes will become clearer in due course.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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566. To ask the Minister for Health if all eligible HSE staff have been paid the pandemic recognition payment; the number of payments that are outstanding to eligible healthcare workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47900/22]

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 for eligible HSE and Section 38 employees is currently receiving priority. As of Friday, 23 September, 85,352 eligible HSE staff have received payment around the country. This number excludes Section 38 agencies which are estimated to have paid 38,287 staff to date thereby bringing the total number of employees paid to 123,639.

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.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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567. To ask the Minister for Health if the tender for a third-party contractor to assist with the pandemic recognition payment process is complete; if a contract has been signed; the further timeframe that is expected for payments to eligible healthcare workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47901/22]

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.

In relation to eligible staff in cohorts 1-4 above, in order to progress the payment of the Pandemic Recognition Payment, the HSE has published an invitation to tender for a third-party contractor to assist with the payment process.

The Department is aware that the deadline for the HSE's tender process on this matter was extended to 23 September. It is expected that once a contract is in place and details of payment processes are finalised, information will be published for those certain eligible 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 is published, the Department is keen that payments to eligible workers will be made as soon as possible thereafter.