7 Nov 2012, 17:13
In its final meeting on the examination of allowances paid in the public sector, the Committee of Public Accounts will meet with Tony O'Brien, Deputy CEO/Director General Designate of the Health Service Executive tomorrow, Thursday, 8th November, 2012.
Chairman of the Committee John McGuinness, TD, said: “Our meeting tomorrow will enable us to examine the expenses regime in the healthcare sector in detail. According to the HSE 2011 Appropriation Account, €122.4 million was paid in allowances, €169.9 million in overtime, €256.6 million in night and weekend payments and €49.9 million in on-call payments. The vast majority of all allowances and overtime were paid to staff in clinical roles. Total pay for HSE staff for 2011 amounted to €5.051 billion. Of total staff numbers of 67,722 at the year-end, 41,834 of these were in receipt of an allowance of some kind excluding premium payments for nights or weekends.
Details of 41 allowances payable to HSE staff have been supplied to the Committee. Of these, there was no estimated annual cost for two, while seven are on the list of allowances prioritised for early elimination. Business cases were submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure for 20 of these allowances.
As part of our review of HSE allowances, members will have a chance to explore the scope of the allowances being paid to HSE staff; examine the business cases that have been provided for 20 allowances; and question why were business cases not submitted to the department for 21 of the 41 allowance. We will also have a chance to consider how the Irish system of compensating medical staff compares with international systems, including the UK.”
This meeting starts at 2pm on Thursday, 8th November in Committee Room 1, LH 2000.
Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://bit.ly/24YmPI
Ends
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
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Committee of Public Accounts
Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Paschal Donohoe,
Gerald Nash,
Simon Harris,
Michael McCarthy,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross