€2.1m in pandemic bonuses paid to Dept of Defence and Dublin Fire Brigade

East Cork Labour TD Seán Sherlock: 'This matter is dragging on for far too long. Workers who served at the front line during the pandemic were expecting this bonus well in advance of Christmas and many made plans for such.'  Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Some €2.1m was paid in pandemic bonuses to the Department of Defence and Dublin Fire Brigade before Christmas, but thousands of other non-HSE healthcare staff are still waiting.

Only 53% of non-HSE health companies who applied for the bonus have now been paid, according to an update on the process from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to East Cork Labour TD Seán Sherlock.

A bonus payment of €1,000 was announced in January of last year for six categories of workers who joined the Covid-19 frontlines.

Although more than 138,000 HSE staff and staff working for Section 38 care bodies have now been paid, an unknown number of carers, private nursing home staff and other workers are still waiting, the update shows.

Payments are being made for non-HSE staff by consultancy firm KOSI Corp, following a tender process.

Up to January 13, some 647 employers had applied out of 862 who received information on how to apply.

“I am pleased to confirm that 347 organisations have already been paid or approved for payments for 27,215 eligible staff, with more due in the coming weeks,” Mr Donnelly said.

However, he added: “As this information is being collected, validated, corrected, and acted on in real-time in a self-assessment manner, it is not possible to estimate exactly how many individuals have yet to be paid nor when the remaining employers will have applied for funding.” 

Mr Sherlock’s constituency office is regularly contacted by health staff frustrated at these delays.

“This matter is dragging on for far too long,” he said. “Workers who served at the front line during the pandemic were expecting this bonus well in advance of Christmas and many made plans for such. 

"The bureaucratic dragging of the feet is simply not good enough for these frontline workers.” 

In November, the Department of Health transferred “approx €2.1m” in funding to the Department of Defence and Dublin City Council for members of the Defence Forces and paramedics, the update shows.

It also shows “appeals from other HSE and Section 38 staff due to be adjudicated by an independently chaired appeals board within weeks.” 

The Irish Examiner previously reported that up to January 11, payments were “disbursed to 213 nursing home employers” out of an estimated 440. At that point KOSI had sent payments to "44% of total employer claims received to date", a HSE spokesman said.