ABOUT 3,000 staff in the Health Service Executive had applied to leave the organisation under the Government’s early retirement and voluntary redundancy schemes by last night.
Up to yesterday about 70 per cent of applications came from administration and management grades, with the remaining 30 per cent drawn from support personnel such as porters or catering staff.
It is understood the numbers opting for voluntary redundancy and those choosing early retirement were split about 50/50.
The deadline for making applications under the Government’s schemes closed at midnight last night.
The Government allocated €400 million to fund the schemes and it believed up to 5,000 staff could leave the health service under the initiative. Depending on levels of staff interest, it is this budget cap that will largely determine the exact numbers to leave.
The HSE had estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 staff could opt to leave under the schemes. It would appear that the final figure is likely to be at the lower end of this forecast.
Staff who submitted applications to leave can change their mind up until the end of the month. However, decisions are irrevocable after that point.
The Government wants employees who are taking the exit packages on offer to leave the HSE by the end of December.
Speaking yesterday Minister for Health Mary Harney again repeated that the voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes were once-off initiatives.
“It is clearly a voluntary package, but I would hope that we would reach certainly over 3,000 by the end of the day.
“We will wait and see what happens between now and midnight tonight. Until we see the outcome at 12 o’clock tonight, I’m not going to comment on the numbers except to say this is a once-off opportunity, the money won’t be there again,” Ms Harney said.
“There are major challenges confronting the country and the public health service next year and onward for the next four years, so I think people should think very carefully about the option that is available to them.”
Under the rules of the schemes, applications from management and administrative staff will be given priority. The redundancy scheme involves a severance payment of three weeks’ pay per year of service in addition to statutory entitlements, subject to an overall limit of two years’ pay.
