Wednesday, February 19th 2014
- Section 38 agencies encouraged to comply with public sector pay policies.
- HSE warns sole remaining agency which is deemed to be non-compliant that its funding may be cut by 20%.
All Section 38 agencies have a contractual obligation to comply with public sector pay policy. At a time when available funding is limited due to economic constraints it is critical that all agencies achieve compliance. I encourage each agency to make every effort to comply and, in particular, I would ask St. Vincent’s University Hospital to immediately review its own position and achieve immediate compliance.
I would also ask all of those agencies that have made business cases for exceptions from public sector pay policy to review their own positions. Any deviation from the general pay policy should be a rare exception. Each agency that has made a business case for an exception should explore every possible option so as to achieve full compliance without exception.
What must be at the forefront of the policy of each agency is the care and service delivered to their patients. Service delivery should be the priority of each Section 38 agency. However, when an agency is not adhering to public sector pay policy it begs the question as to whether it prioritises service delivery or the salaries of senior personnel.
It is incumbent on those in leadership positions to take difficult decisions to ensure that the quality of service is maintained during difficult economic times. If the decisions taken by senior management are to be credible and achieve a buy-in from other staff members then their decisions must impact on the salaries of senior personnel. It cannot only be the frontline staff and services that are affected by critical decisions.”