Michael Ahern
Ceist:59 Mr. M. Ahern asked the Minister for Health the overall cost of overtime payments in his Department and in the State-sponsored bodies under the aegis of his Department. [9408/95]
Written Answers. - Overtime Payments.
Limerick East): The latest figures available to me indicate that the total amount of money paid in overtime in respect of the bodies covered by the Deputy's question was £23.24 million in 1994.
This figure represents about 2.4 per cent of the pay expenditure of these agencies.
Overtime is defined as hours worked over and above normal hours. I am satisfied that the cost of overtime represents a reasonable cost of providing essential services in what is a highly labour intensive service where there is constant demand on services, equipment and facilities. The Deputy will appreciate that in a twenty-four hour, seven day a week service meeting these service demands will continue to involve the incurring of overtime costs.
However this is an area that is constantly under review both in my Department and in health agencies and we continue to look at ways to reduce this cost to a minimum.