Health service job cuts 'will not hit care'

Taoiseach Brian Cowen tonight said plans to cull up to 4,000 managers and administrative staff from the health service should not create any major disruption to services.

Mr Cowen accepted it would be a challenge to meet the end of year deadline for the scheme but insisted it must be done.

And he said there had been 900 expressions of interest since it was announced on Monday.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore questioned whether the deadline could be met.

“First of all 4,000 staff out of any organisation is quite a big number,” he said.

The Government on Monday revealed the €400m voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes will be offered to more than 28,000 staff members.

Some support personnel, such as chefs and porters, will also be included in the schemes – which must be applied for by November 19.

Mr Cowen said that the Croke Park deal and the existence of surplus staff services will not be overly hit.

He told the Dáil: “It should be possible to do that without any major disruptions of services.”

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (Inmo) said it had concerns about the scheme being offered to support staff.

General secretary Liam Doran said nursing staff would not be stepping in to fill the gaps.

“Numbers of them could be gone within two months and I’m saying here and now that nurses and midwifery staff will not be doing the work of those grades,” he said.

“If they vacate their posts and are not replaced that will be a problem for the HSE to manage and administrate.”

Mr Doran said the speed of the plan suggests the Health Service Executive does not know where it is going to lose its staff from.

Meanwhile the IMPACT trade union is seeking a meeting with Health Minister Mary Harney to discuss the HSE's early retirement and voluntary redundancy scheme.

IMPACT has written to Minister Harney raising concerns about the scheme, and says the timeframe is too short for workers to give it their proper consideration.

The union said it has also contacted the Labour Relations Commission seeking an urgent intervention.