SOME 662 HSE staff who initially applied to leave the organisation under the recent voluntary redundancy or early retirement schemes have withdrawn their applications, it was confirmed yesterday.
A total of 3,775 staff had initially applied to depart but they were told at the time they had until the end of November to change their minds.
Further staff who applied may change their mind and decide not to go in coming days as the HSE has extended until this Friday its deadline for getting back to people with full details of how much they would be entitled to.
Minister for Health Mary Harney presented the figures to the Oireachtas health committee yesterday and said a supplementary estimate of €250 million would be required for the HSE this year to cover the cost of the scheme. All those leaving will have to have departed by the end of this month.
This means the cost of the HSE exit schemes, which were estimated initially to cost up to €400 million, will now be substantially less. Ms Harney said the €250 million figure was a “notional” one because it was as yet unclear what the final numbers would be leaving the HSE.
Asked by Labour’s health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan if the HSE could refuse to let certain highly skilled people go Ms Harney said it couldn’t, adding that no one was indispensable.
Outlining the full extent of the supplementary estimate which would be required by the HSE for 2010 Ms Harney said a further €422 million would also be required due to a shortfall in the amount of health levy collected, bringing the total shortfall in the HSE budget to €672 million for this year.
She said that a total of €42 million which had been set aside for the swine flu pandemic, information technology provision in the HSE as well as the full year cost of additional social workers promised following publication of the Ryan Commission report had gone unspent and this combined with €35 million from the UK for treatment of patients brought the overall shortfall now required in a supplementary estimate down to €595 million.
She told the committee the health levy was not managed by the HSE. It is collected by the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue Commissioners and latest estimates from them suggested health levy receipts overall will be €422 million below target this year.
This was as a result of lower pay rates both in the public and private sectors and unemployment levels, she said.
Meanwhile, Ms O’Sullivan expressed concern that new figures obtained by her from the HSE showed €52 million was spent by hospitals and healthcare facilities across the State on agency nurses between January and September this year, compared to €44 million for the whole of last year.
She said this was alarming and much of it was as a result of the embargo on recruitment.
Ms Harney responded that every healthcare system will always have to rely on some agency staff but she hoped to see a huge reduction in agency staff costs next year.