Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2016
61. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health how he will ensure the Health Service Executive recruitment embargo does not impact detrimentally on critical services; what oversight he has on the provision of services impacted by the embargo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13667/16]
View answerAn easing of restrictions on the employment of additional staff was announced in Budget 2015. Under this new approach public sector organisations can obtain delegated sanction to recruit within the parameters of their pay budget once they obtain approval for their Pay and Numbers Strategy from their parent Department and from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
This change allows for greater autonomy to be delegated to Departments and Agencies to manage their own staffing levels within allocated pay frameworks. It also provides for further recruitment flexibility, for example where it is determined that offering permanent contracts can achieve more economical service delivery than agency usage.
Recent measures taken in relation to service areas in the HSE remaining within budget have been portrayed, incorrectly, as a recruitment freeze. The HSE is currently working with the Department of Health on the finalisation of its 2016 Pay and Numbers Strategy. This has involved the development of detailed workforce plans at hospital and community service level.
These measures do not impact on a hospital’s ability to recruit where funding exists to facilitate that recruitment; for example in the case of funded replacement posts or where additional funding has been allocated for new positions under the HSE service plan. Recruitment can also take place in areas of critical care and emergency services.
The HSE has continuously increased staffing levels since the beginning of 2015. By the end of April this year, overall health service employee numbers had increased by over 6,000 whole time equivalents since the start of last year, with an extra 1,600 WTEs in the first four months of 2016 alone. The vast majority of these employees are in front line positions. Numbers in the Medical and Dental category increased by almost 600 WTEs or 6.5% since the start of 2015 while nursing figures rose by over 1,700 or 5% during the same timeframe.
It is this government’s intention to continue to grow the health budget as the economy improves and to obtain further resources to deliver the level of service that we all want to provide to our patients.
