Government to break pay scale for HSE posts

The Government has allowed the interim Health Service Executive, which will take over the health services from January, to break the common pay scale for its top-level managers and offer higher salaries to directors.

The new directors of the National Hospitals Office and of the Community and Continuing Care Services will receive a salary in the region of €153,000.

This follows direct negotiations in recent months between the interim Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Finance.

Briefing material drawn up by the Department of Health for the Minister, Ms Harney, which has been seen by The Irish Times, reveals the interim HSE had "raised issues" about salary scale for these two posts.

It is understood that it was believed the directors of the National Hospitals Office and the Director of Community and Continuing Care would have more responsibilities than others on the top-level management team.

Other top-level managers at the HSE will receive salaries of in excess of €140,000 a year.

Last Saturday, the acting chief executive of the HSE, Mr Kevin Kelly, is understood to have sought approval from the board of the organisation for the appointment of up to nine senior directors, following interviews held over recent weeks. The announcement of the top-level managers is likely to be made shortly, possibly later this week.

The HSE board will also have to decide whether it will re-advertise the post of chief executive or go back to other candidates who had been short-listed for the position earlier in the year.

Last week the chief executive-designate of the HSE, Prof Aidan Halligan, dramatically withdrew from the post.

Ms Harney said at the weekend there were a number of perspectives as to the background of the person who should be appointed to the post. She indicated she did not necessarily believe the chief executive would have to be a medical doctor.

The Government's plans for restructuring the health services have received a number of blows in recent weeks, apart from the withdrawal of Prof Halligan.

Legislation underpinning reforms was delayed for several weeks and only published on Friday night, while members of the IMPACT trade union have voted for industrial action over what they claim is a failure by the HSE to provide adequate assurances to staff over job security and conditions.