Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2022
309. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in issuing the Covid bonus payment to all eligible staff not directly employed by the HSE; if he will outline the specific steps that he has taken in the past three months to address this impasse; the steps that he will take to ensure that all outstanding payments are issued before Christmas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58560/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirst, I would like to thank all healthcare workers for their extraordinary efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for certain frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. To date, over 124,000 workers have received the payment, and payments to eligible HSE and Section 38 staff are substantially complete.
Certain non-HSE/Section 38 healthcare employees are also covered by the Government Decision, and efforts are underway to ensure an efficient and expeditious rollout to these staff. These include 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 HSE and KOSI Corp are currently progressing the rollout to eligible staff in cohorts 1-4 above. Information on the process involved has now been provided by the HSE and KOSI Corp to relevant organisations. I am pleased to confirm that payments to employers of eligible staff are rolling out, including to private nursing homes, with funding transfers underway, and these employers will then pass on the payments to their eligible staff.
The Department of Health has transferred funding to the Department of Defence and Dublin City Council to enable payments to eligible staff in cohorts 5 and 6 above, and payments to these staff are being arranged by their respective employers.
