State-funded agencies resisting loss of top-up payments

At least eight health agencies which receive additional State funding are resisting efforts to remove unauthorised top-up payments from senior executives, the Dáil public accounts committee has heard.

Health Service Executive director general Tony O'Brien said 58 of the 143 individuals at so-called Section 38 agencies were "still at issue" following exchange of correspondence in recent months.

In respect of eight individuals, legal advice resisting the removal of the top-up had been submitted by the person or the agency employing them. In 50 cases, the HSE had requested further information.

In some cases, people were asserting “inalienable contractual obligations” justifying their right to payment of the allowance. The HSE has asked employers to prove there is a contractual entitlement to being paid above the Government pay guidelines.

In such cases, the attitude of the HSE was “prove it”, Mr O’Brien said. No-one as yet had provided the necessary proof to back up their assertion.

He rejected the contention of Fine Gael TD Paul Connaughton that people resisting the removal of top-up payments were going to "get away with it".

Mr O’Brien said the HSE had received a wide range of responses from Section 38 agencies. Some staff had decided to leave the health service and some had taken reduced pay.

He said that others are asserting a contractual entitlement to the pay and these cases would have to be worked through.

He said the fact that they were in receipt of an unauthorised payment was not of their own doing. The responsibility lay with the agency making the payment.

Overall, the process of engagement with Section 38 bodies had resulted in significant changes, he pointed out.

In relation to St Vincent’s Hospital, he said it was “on the swing” towards compliance with the top-up rule.

Mr O’Brien said he hoped to provide a “comprehensive and full” report on the issue to the committee in early July.