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Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland

HSE withholding travel costs from staff 'not good enough', says minister

Community and home help workers will not be repaid for petrol or subsistence expenses this month or next.

THE HSE HAS announced that it will not pay travel and subsistence expenses to staff this month or next, instead withholding the money until next year.

The decision has been condemned by the Minister for Health, James Reilly, who said he did not believe it was “good enough”. Unions have also reacted strongly against the move, saying many community and home help workers are dependent on petrol expenses.

Siptu official Paul Bell said the measure “can only be interpreted as health workers being instructed to bankroll the HSE.”

Minister Reilly said it was a decision that the HSE had taken without his involvement, and he did not approve of the move.

“I expect the HSE to stay within budget, but I expect them to pay their bills,” he told RTÉ Prime Time. “Staying in budget doesn’t mean you don’t pay people the money you owe them.”

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the decision had been taken without any consultation with staff. “It is further confirmation that they [the HSE] simply do not understand the stresses community-based staff are under”, the union said in a statement.

In a statement, the HSE said the decision had been made “pending a resolution of the HSE’s final cash position for 2011″. It said the money would be deferred for around five weeks, or until the beginning of next year. The statement continued:

The HSE notes the comments of the Minister and will continue to engage with the Department of Finance and Department of Health in terms of managing its working capital and cash position to the end of the financial year.

Read more: HSE issues warning over low dosage flu vaccines>

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15 Comments
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    Mute Sean Kelly
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    Jan 27th 2016, 12:06 PM

    Flash was also causing me trouble..

    So I switched to Mr Muscle..

    77
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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Jan 27th 2016, 12:13 PM

    Cif is not as good as the old Jif.

    31
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    Mute Max Rockatansky
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    Jan 27th 2016, 12:08 PM

    Typo in article, it should say: Internet Explorer – Uninstall Internet Explorer

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    Mute Richard Flynn
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    Jan 27th 2016, 12:17 PM

    That’s all well and good until u visit a site that runs on flash . The sooner html5 becomes the standard for everyone the better.

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    Mute bothyhead
    Favourite bothyhead
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    Jan 27th 2016, 1:02 PM

    I visit a few sites where, unfortunately, flash is required, so I have my browser configured to prompt if I want to activate it. It’s amazing how many sites show me the prompt, when there does not appear to be any visible flash elements on the page. I’m assuming those sites are trying to store those nasty Flash-based Super Cookies.

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    Mute Joe Arthur
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    Jan 27th 2016, 12:05 PM

    Cheers.

    I’d always figured I needed it, but obviously not!

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    Mute Pat Gorman
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    Jan 27th 2016, 6:43 PM

    Speedtest.net has just released a beta HTML5 version.
    They took their time.
    Flash is dying out far too slowly.
    “Requires flash” still appears on your screen just when you assumed it was finally dead..
    You won’t find it on Apple devices.
    Steve Jobs barred Flash from all Apple devices over a decade ago.

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