Commissions of Investigation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

Questions (432)

John McGuinness

Question:

432. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the progress of the Farrelly commission of investigation; if staff giving evidence to the commission who are employed by section 38 and 39 organisations will have their jobs protected; if the costs associated with their absences from work are covered by the HSE; if a reply will issue to queries raised in this regard through correspondence he received on 19 November 2018; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the refusal of the HSE to address this issue will result in key witnesses not being able to attend and give evidence at future hearings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50875/18]

Written answers

Minister for Health

The work of the Farrelly Commission of Investigation is ongoing. On 15 May 2018 I agreed to a twelve month extension to the Farrelly Commission to complete and submit its phase 1 final report. In granting the extension, I requested that two further interim reports be provided in September 2018 and January 2019. These interim reports are to include a report on the Commission's progress to date and a summary of work yet to be undertaken. The Third Interim Report was published on 3 October 2018 and is available on the Department of Health's website.

The Farrelly Commission is an independent statutory Commission of Investigation. I am not in a position to comment on its ongoing work.

Sections 23 and 24 of the Commissions of investigation Act 2004 provide for guidelines concerning the recovery of legal costs necessarily incurred by witnesses (section 23) and requests for the recovery of legal costs necessarily incurred and certain other expenses (section 24). These guidelines and the payment of witnesses' expenses and other costs are set out in the Farrelly Commission's Rules and Procedures (sections 13 to 17 and appendix 2). Determinations on witness payments are a matter for the Commission.

Section 38 and 39 agencies are funded by the HSE under the provisions of the Health Act 2004, where the HSE provides a grant to allow the agency to provide services similar or ancillary to the HSE. The HSE has Service Level Arrangements (SLAs) in place with these voluntary providers which set out the level of service to be provided for the grant to the individual organisation.

Employees of Section 39 organisations are not public servants and are therefore not encompassed by the Public Service Stability Agreements. This differs for employees of Section 38 bodies who are directly bound by the Department of Health's Consolidated Salary Scales. It is a matter for Section 39 organisations to negotiate salaries with their staff as part of their employment relationship and within the overall funding available for the delivery of agreed services. I cannot intervene in employment related matters, including the issues raised by the Deputy.