Reilly unable to say whether the number of high-earning HSE managers would be scaled back as part of new reforms
THERE ARE 22 staff in the Department of Health receiving gross salaries of more than €100,000, the Minister for Health James Reilly has revealed.
He said that these included the secretary general of the Department of Health, the chief medical officer, five assistant secretaries general and 15 members of staff at principal officer or professional equivalent level.
Dr Reilly, who was responding to a parliamentary question tabled by Gerald Nash of the Labour Party, said all the staff concerned were based in Dublin.
Last September, The Irish Timesreported that there were nearly 3,000 personnel in the Health Service Executive receiving salaries of more than €100,000.
The 2,289 personnel earning more than €100,000 included medical consultants working in HSE hospitals.
But the figure did not take account of high-earning medical consultants who were employed by voluntary hospitals or other non-HSE institutions such as St Vincent’s or the Mater hospitals in Dublin which receive the vast bulk of their funding from the State.
Sinn Féin health spokesman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin told the Dáil in February that there were 110 senior managers in the HSE receiving salaries of more than €100,000.
Dr Reilly was unable to say whether the number of high-earning managers would be scaled back as part of his new reforms, which will see the existing top-level management structure in the HSE replaced by seven new directorates.
“The new structure is intended to provide clarity as to the responsibility for the delivery of the services under each director, as well as greater financial transparency and accountability in those services,” he said.
“Given the very challenging situation that the health service faces in 2012 and future years, strong management capacity is needed to improve performance, to deliver on service targets in an effective and efficient way within available resources, and to lead change in a complex environment.
“The changes are intended to improve the management of the service. In view of the nature and scale of the changes proposed, it is not possible at this stage to say whether there will be a reduction in the number of senior managers being paid salaries of more than €100,000.”
