Pandemic recognition payment delays
Deputies highlighted that many eligible frontline workers, including HSE staff, section 39 workers, fire brigade members and private nursing home staff, had still not received the pandemic bonus payment. The Minister said most public-system staff had been paid, but some groups remained outstanding and he wanted a self-assessment and audit approach for private nursing homes.
Earlier this year, the Government announced a pandemic recognition payment, broadly welcomed by this House, for front-line workers who worked during the pandemic. However, a whole section of workers have not received this payment. They are largely HSE staff but they also include section 39 voluntary workers, members of the fire brigade and workers in private nursing homes. They have not got the pandemic payment, which is quite incredible after nine months. What gets even more bizarre is there is now a tendering process for the administration relating to those who have not received the payment.
There is to be a situation where a tendering company will probably end up getting more money than the people who were trying to protect us. That is bizarre to say the least. I would like to hear the Minister's comments on that.
Comment on this
There are three groups of people involved and I am not satisfied with the progress regarding the group whose payments are still outstanding. The vast majority of people working within the public system have now been paid. I believe the figure is 97% or higher. There is another group of people comprising non-HSE staff. This group includes Defence Forces and fire brigade personnel and others and needs to be paid as a matter of priority. There is then a third group comprising private sector workers. The HSE has a genuine concern that it may end up overpaying or incorrectly paying third-party private providers in respect of which it does not have the same level of transparency as it has with section 38 and section 39 bodies. I raised this with the HSE again this week. The proposal from the HSE, which I fully understand because if it gets it wrong, the first thing that would happen is that the Committee of Public Accounts would call it in and haul it over the coals for not having sufficient audits-----
Comment on this
May I just finish on this? I have asked the HSE to turn it the other way, that is, to have the private nursing homes assess themselves, to make the payments and to then carry out an audit to make sure the payments were correct.