Howlin challenged over HSE surplus

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has been challenged to back up the “urban myth” that 1,500 administrators in the HSE are “surplus to requirements” in the face of claims there are actually shortages in areas of the health service.

Mr Howlin told Pat Kenny’s Newstalk show on Monday that the HSE was not fit for purpose.

“The HSE has identified 1,500 at least administrators who are surplus to requirements,” he said. “We need to get those out of the system. We are not going to keep people in public employment as a social scheme. They have to be doing something that is absolutely essential.”

Yesterday, the country’s largest solely public service union, Impact, wrote to Mr Howlin to say that, in its experience, no area in the HSE has identified a surplus of administrative staff.

“In fact most areas have identified shortfalls,” wrote Impact’s national health secretary, Louise O’Donnell.

“The number of administrative staff in the HSE has been reduced to 2002 levels — a far more significant reduction than in any other area of public services in the recent past.

“The HSE employs approximately 500 administrative staff through external agencies as a direct result of shortages in some areas adding that, in general, outsourcing at this level is more expensive than recruitment.”

Ms O’Donnell said the PCRS centre which issues medical cards has had to outsource work due to shortages of clerical and administrative staff. In the emergency &department at Cork University Hospital, there is a similar admin shortage.

The proposal to outsource HSE payroll included a provision to move existing payroll staff to other areas of the health service to cover shortfalls, Ms O’Donnell said.

“None of these experiences suggests that there is much in the way of surplus clerical and administrative staff available within the HSE,” she said.

As a further example, she said that, of the 3,000 applications for the incentivised career break in the HSE, only 280 were granted and most clerical and administrative staff who applied were refused.

“I believe that there is more than a hint of urban myth in the assertion of such a surplus of administrative staff,” she said.

“The figure has been publicly floated a number of times over the last few years and yet, when challenged, the HSE has never been able to identify where the alleged surpluses exist. If new information is available which demonstrates such surpluses, minister, I would be very keen to learn where they are so we can constructively address the issue.”

Ms O’Donnell also took issue with Mr Howlin’s reference to a “social scheme” for those in public employment. “It is my experience that our members throughout the health service are working extremely hard in the most difficult circumstances,” she said.

“They are conscious, regardless of their role, that there are patients needing treatment at the heart of everything they do. It is unfortunate. at best, to suggest that any of them are employed in any kind of social scheme.”