Vol. 421 No. 5
95 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for Health if he will outline (a) the present number of nurses who are involved in job sharing and who are employed by the public sector and (b) the proportion of whole time equivalent positions which are provided on a job sharing basis; and if he will make a statement on the potential to expand job sharing in nursing.
My Department's health service personnel census records that there were 2,169 nurses employed in a job-sharing capacity in the health services at 31 December, 1991. This represents 8 per cent of total nurses employed. Some 4 per cent of nursing posts in terms of total wholetime equivalence were filled in a job-sharing capacity at the end of 1991. A measure of the increasing success of the scheme is the fact that over 700 more nurses were availing of the job-sharing scheme in 1991 than in 1989.
The terms of the scheme provide that the operation and maintenance of job-sharing arrangements in respect of specific posts are a matter for the management of each health agency and must necessarily depend on the exigencies of the service involved.
I am committed to encouraging health agencies to allow the scheme to be used to the fullest possible extent. In this regard my Department has initiated a review of the scheme with a view to seeing what further steps can be taken to expand it.
