THE DEPARTMENT of Finance has proposed that up to 4,000 health sector staff should go as part of the Government’s planned voluntary redundancy scheme.
In a proposal for Government, which is expected to be considered next week, the Department of Finance has recommended that the scope of the planned voluntary redundancy scheme should be expanded considerably.
The Department of Finance has proposed that the 4,000 staff should go over the next two years.
It has suggested that 2,000 personnel could go this year, mainly from the Health Service Executive (HSE) while 2,000 more could go next year from the wider health sector including voluntary agencies and hospitals.
The scale of the voluntary redundancy scheme proposed by the Department of Finance would, if agreed by Government, be four times the size of the one put forward originally by the HSE a year ago.
The Irish Times understands the Department of Finance has proposed that the voluntary redundancy scheme could apply to around 500 clerical and administrative staff in the HSE. The first tranche could involve grade eight personnel and above – senior grades in the health sector – as well as their personal assistants.
The HSE last year initially proposed that the voluntary redundancy scheme could apply for around 1,000 staff.
It is understood that in a subsequent proposal drawn up just before Christmas, the HSE suggested that up to 2,000 staff could go as part of the voluntary redundancy scheme over a 24-month period.
The Irish Times understands that the HSE told the Government in December that it believed that up to 400 staff could go as part of its new streamlined administrative structures which will see the abolition of the twin administrative pillars governing hospital and community services.
The HSE is also believed to have established that there was scope to let staff go in the areas of the administration of the medical card scheme, in the former health board headquarters and in human resources.
Minister for Health Mary Harney told the Dáil in December that the planned voluntary redundancy programme for surplus administrative staff in the HSE would be extended to personnel at hospital and community level.
In a reply to a written parliamentary question, the Minister said plans by the HSE to establish single unified organisation structures between a number of hospitals would facilitate introduction of a targeted voluntary early retirement/redundancy scheme.
Ms Harney said initiatives that resulted in improved efficiencies and reduction of duplication at all levels of the HSE would form part of the health authoritys plans to modify its structures, which were announced last summer. This includes merging the existing hospital and community pillars at national and regional level.
One such example is a plan to create single unified organisation structures between a number of hospitals. The aim of this model is to ensure that health service delivery is planned and organised on the basis of a single entity, thus optimising the use of resources.”