I propose to take Questions Nos. 157, 161 and 176 together.
Responsibility for human resource planning including in relation to senior management posts in each health board region rests with the chief executive officer, CEO, of each health board and the regional chief executive of the Eastern Regional Health Authority. Each CEO, in managing the workforce in his-her own region is responsible for determining the appropriate staffing mix and the precise grades of staff to be employed in line with service plan priorities, subject to overall employment levels remaining within the approved regional employment ceiling.
The Secretary General of my Department wrote to each CEO in March of this year instructing them, inter alia, to ensure that no vacancies at senior management level should be filled on a substantive-permanent basis except in exceptional circumstances where the formal approval of my Department had been secured in advance. A total of 22 such posts have been sanctioned since the issuing of the letter in March 2004 and the details of these posts are outlined in the following table. The posts approved are either key management posts for the delivery of patient services or concern important areas of health service operations. The filling of these posts is considered essential to maintaining the continuity and quality of service provision in the health services in the context of the transition to the new administrative structures.
As my Department does not maintain individual records in respect of the filling of senior management posts other than those directly related to the Secretary General's letter of March 2004, I have asked the CEO of each board and the regional chief executive of the ERHA to respond directly to the Deputy in respect of appointments in the period from 1999 to March 2004.
Health Board
|
Number of Posts
|
Title of post sanctioned
|
Eastern Regional Health Authority
|
1
|
Financial Controller
|
Mid-Western
|
1
|
Research and Development Officer
|
|
1
|
General Manager Limerick Primary, Community and Continuing Care
|
Midland
|
1
|
Materials Manager
|
|
1
|
Superintendent Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
|
|
1
|
General Manager Acute Hospital Services
|
|
1
|
General Manager Community Care
|
North Eastern
|
3
|
Regional Risk Advisers
|
North Western
|
1
|
Regional Project Manager, EPR (Acute Services)
|
South-East
|
1
|
Travellers Health Officer
|
|
1
|
Regional Births Deaths and Marriages
|
|
1
|
General Manager Waterford Regional Hospital
|
|
1
|
Head Office Finance Post
|
|
1
|
Director of Finance (Temporary post-12 months)
|
Southern
|
1
|
Service Manager
|
|
3
|
Superintendent Community Welfare Officer
|
|
1
|
Medical Manpower Manager
|
Western
|
1
|
Superintendent Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
|
Total
|
22
|
|