HSE unable to pay €10m emergency nurses pay deal

The HSE has told the Government it does not have the money to pay for a €10 million deal agreed with nurses to avoid strikes in hospital emergency departments before the general election.

However, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has told the HSE that agreements made by public sector employers and unions at the Workplace Relations Commission were "binding and must be honoured".

The cost of the deal with the nurses – it has already led to knock-on claims from other healthcare staff – is now expected to be added to the HSE’s already growing financial overrun for 2016. This could reach €300 million by the end of the year.

Under the deal nurses in emergency departments are to receive an extra two days’ leave this year and in 2017 in lieu of missed meal breaks.

In addition, a €1,500 educational bursary is to be put in place for personnel who stay in their post for one year.

Additional promotional positions for nurses in emergency departments are also to be established.

Additional costs

HSE director general

Tony O'Brien

told the

Department of Health

in March the deal involved additional costs which were over and above those covered by the State’s allocation to the HSE.

Mr Varadkar took responsibility for the deal in a replying letter to Mr O’Brien on March 16th. “I appreciate that provision was not made for this when the national service plan 2016 (the HSE’s agreement with the Government on how its budget will be spent) was approved. The Workplace Relations Commission agreement was made subsequently with my full knowledge and support.

“For this reason I am asking that you proceed to implement it in full as soon as practicable and to inform the Workplace Relations Commission of the same.”

“I understand that implementation will cost up to €10 million in 2016,” the Minster said.

Meanwhile, it has also emerged the HSE earlier this year proposed financial incentives to encourage 8,000 nurses currently working on flexible arrangements to work additional hours.

Pay policy

However, this was rejected by the Department of Health, which feared the impact of such a development on broader public service pay policy.

The HSE told the department in late January that there was evidence that the existing terms and conditions were not sufficiently attractive to encourage nurses on flexible arrangements to work additional hours.

It said nurses who did not work full hours could not be paid overtime under existing terms and conditions.

“While it is not within the capacity of the HSE to change the terms and conditions of public sector staff, this initiative could be assisted by the provision of incentivised terms,” the HSE said.

Overtime

Within days the Department of Health replied, stating: “There can be no question of overtime arrangements or other financial incentives applying to staff members who work less than full-time hours or any departure from existing overtime arrangements.”

Details of the HSE proposals have emerged as nurses are expected to demand improvements in their terms and conditions at the annual conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation which gets under way in Co Kerry today.