MINISTER FOR HEALTH James Reilly has confirmed that 24 organisations providing services on behalf of the HSE are not compliant with remuneration and pay policy.
In a statement released this evening, Reilly said he wrote to each service provider seeking confirmation that they were in full compliance with the policy.
Under Section 38 of the Health Act 2004, which includes both health agencies and voluntary hospitals, bodies may not supplement approved rates of remuneration with either Exchequer funding or non-Exchequer sources of funding.
Of 44 organisations, 36 have provided a reply and 24 of those returned a status of non-compliance while 12 reported compliance.
“Until such time as the situation in each organisation has been fully verified, none of these organisations can be deemed fully compliant,” the minister said this evening.
Unapproved allowances
If an organisation wishes to make a business case for the continuation of an unapproved allowance, it is open to it to do so and any such cases will be considered by the HSE, the department said in a statement.
A business case must also be made for the continued payment of allowances which are not encompassed by or in line with the Department of Health Consolidated Salary Scales but may have been sanctioned in the past.
The statement comes after controversy this week over ‘top-up’ payments made so some senior executives in publicly funded hospitals. Some of this additional income came from hospital shops and car parks and outside sources in the private sector.
Determined
Reilly said that the government is “determined to ensure that public pay policy is respected and complied with across the health service”. He has asked that the HSE Director General Tony O’Brien write to all Section 39 agencies to ensure that their pay arrangements reflect government policy and said he will receive regular updates.
O’Brien is due to appear before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday, 27 November and Reilly commented that this would allow for a “detailed discussion and expansion on the work being undertaken”.
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