Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
477. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health the status of the payment of the pandemic special recognition payment to vaccinators, swabbers and other healthcare staff employed by the HSE through an agency (details supplied); when these workers will receive their payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38255/22]
View answer558. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health the number of Dublin Fire Brigade workers who worked on the Covid-19 pandemic response as swabbers and vaccinators that have received the pandemic bonus payment; if they are due to receive the payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38598/22]
View answer559. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will detail all organisations, public, voluntary and private that are due to have workers recognised with the pandemic bonus payment but have not yet received the payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38599/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 477, 558 and 559 together.
Firstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.
On January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html.
Payment is currently receiving priority across all Hospital Groups and Community Services in the HSE. As of Friday, 8 July, 68,943 eligible HSE staff have received payment around the country. This number excludes Section 38 agencies which are estimated to have paid 20,000 staff to date thereby bringing the total number of employees paid to 88,943. 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.
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. It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/S38 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.
As the rollout of payments to the eligible workers highlighted above has not yet begun, and eligibility has not yet been assessed, I cannot provide an estimated number of workers who will receive the payment. We expect the rollout to begin shortly and for eligible workers to be paid as soon as possible.
