HSE Budget: Pay - €30m incremental rise ‘not funded’ in budget

The HSE service plan has warned a planned €30m incremental pay increase to staff has “not been funded” as part of its budget for next year.

The health service budget document for 2016 makes the position clear, saying the planned spending — which cabinet stressed on Tuesday cannot be avoided — has not been properly costed or accounted for by the system.

On page 10 of the report, the HSE states that “unavoidable public pay policy and approved pay cost growth in areas which have not been funded, including staff increments” are a risk to ensuring the plan is implemented. On page 28 it goes further, stating that while there is €118m available for the Lansdowne Road agreement, “some unavoidable pay-related costs, identified as part of the estimates process, were not funded within the overall allocation”.

The “most significant” of these unfunded areas include €30m in “increments which must be paid in line with approved public pay policy for which no funding was received”.

The HSE document says the shortfall will be addressed by ensuring “each division [of the health service] will implement measures to enable compliance with public pay policy” but stressed this will be done “without impacting services or giving rise to a funding deficit”.

The issue is likely to lead to further difficulties for the system in its attempts to balance the books in a year when no supplementary budget will be available, in addition to the financial implications of Monday’s deal with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation to avert a strike.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar yesterday declined to clarify how much the agreement with the union will cost the health service next year.

The HSE plan initially suggested holding off on the pay increments to staff due to the additional costs involved. However, at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting it was noted that this cannot take place as it would breach labour relations rules.