About 3,000 staff in the Health Service Executive (HSE) have submitted applications to leave the organisation so far. The deadline for making applications under the Government’s schemes is at midnight.
The HSE said in a statement this evening that applications are continuing to come in and added that over 9,500 health sector staff have expressed an interest in the voluntary redundancy programme..
Staff who make applications can also change their mind up until the end of the month. The Government wants employees who are taking the exit packages on offer to leave the HSE by the end of December.
Speaking this morning, Minister for Health Mary Harney said: "It is clearly a voluntary package, but I would hope that we would reach certainly over 3,000 by the end of the day.
"We will wait and see what happens between now and midnight tonight. Until we see the outcome at 12 o'clock tonight, I'm not going to comment on the numbers except to say this is a once-off opportunity, the money won't be there again.
"There are major challenges confronting the country and the public health service next year and onward for the next four years, so I think people should think very carefully about the option that is available to them. Obviously, it's a matter for each individual to think of their own circumstances and their families' circumstances," Ms Harney said.
The voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes have been offered primarily to clerical, administrative and managerial personnel in the HSE. The packages have also been offered to support staff such as porters, cleaners and catering personnel staff.
The Government has set a limit of €400 million on the amount that can be spent on the schemes. Depending on the levels of interest from staff, it is this budget cap that will largely determine the exact numbers to leave.
Under the rules of the schemes, applications from management and administrative staff will be given priority over those from support staff in all cases. Such applications will be “approved automatically”, subject to the overall cost of the schemes not being breached.
Earlier this month, Ms Harney said the schemes could generate savings of about €200 million a year on the health service payroll. The schemes would be offered on a once-off basis, and the terms were "fair and reasonable", she said.
"There is general acceptance of the need to reduce the numbers of management and administrative staff in the health service," she said at the schemes’ unveiling.
The voluntary early retirement scheme is open to employees over age 50. It provides for immediate payment of pension entitlements on retirement, with no actuarial reduction in respect of payment prior to minimum retirement age. Full lump-sum entitlement will also be paid, and payments will not take into account the salary cuts introduced in the public service earlier this year.
The voluntary redundancy scheme involves a severance payment of three weeks’ pay per year of service in addition to statutory entitlements, subject to an overall limit of two years’ pay.