Intensive Diabetes Treatment
Cuts Kidney Damage in Half in new Study
Top Irish civil servants paid more than their EU counterparts
Brendan Howlin following Croke Park Agreement talks last June.
Top and middle managers in central government are paid more than the average European salary, a new report has revealed.
However, according to thePublic Sector Trends 2011report, the pay of administrative staff is towards the lower end of European norms.
On average, top civil servants in Ireland were paid 7.7 times that of their administrative staff in 2009. In other European countries, the senior compensation levels were just 3.5 times that of clerical workers.
Only Belgium, the UK and Italy pay their top managers more, according to the 2009 data which takes into account the cuts made through the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act.
For those classed as clerical and administrative workers, only the UK, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia pay less than Ireland.
The quality of Ireland’s public administration remains close to the European average, the report found. This is measured in terms of the upholding of values such as independence from political interference, freedom from bribery and corruption, and reliability and administrative fairness.
The authors of the report, published by the Institute of Public Administration, said this was a “credible” position for Ireland given its size and recent economic downturn.
The research found that the number of people employed in the public sector is now down to below 2006 levels. Two out of every three employees work in either health or education.
This year, about 105,000 people have worked in the health sector with another 93,000 in education.
Dr Boyle, one of the authors of the report, said those staff numbers were “not excessive” by European standards.
The Exchequer’s pay and pensions bill – which had doubled between 2000 and 2008 – has fallen back to €17.1 billion.
The report, however, found that the growth in public spending in the past few years is an issue that needs “particular attention”.
Looking at the effectiveness of Ireland’s central government, the World Bank has dropped its score for the fours years from 2005 to 2009.
KENNY IS STILL RTÉ’S BEST-PAID PRESENTER, ON €729,000 = €14020 A WEEK.
PAT KENNY REMAINS RTÉ’S BEST PAID PRESENTER,
EARNING AN ANNUAL SALARY OF MORE THAN €729,000 IN 2009.
For the first time in two years, the State broadcaster has decided to publish the salaries of its top 10 presenters for the year 2009. The salaries for 2010 will not be published until next year, for commercial reasons.
After Kenny, the next highest earner in 2009 was the late Gerry Ryan, who earned more than €585,000, while Marian Finucane earned €570,000. Ryan Tubridy is in fourth place on €519,000. Tubridy took over as Late Late Show host in 2009.
Traditionally, the Late Late Show presenter is also RTÉ’s highest-paid presenter, and next year’s figures are likely to reflect that fact.
HSE Report Figures shows increased hospital pressure on scarce resources
The average waiting time for patients on trolleys in emergency
departments around the country has increased, according to the HSE.
The HSE’s latest performance report shows that in September, only 44% of patients requiring admission were admitted to hospitals within six hours of their registration in the emergency department. In September 2010 the figure was 51.8%.
The report says while ED attendances around the country for the first nine months of this year were 1.5% less than the same period last year, emergency admissions increased by 1.7%.
It says hospitals are reporting that patients presenting to EDs are more acutely ill, with an increasing elderly cohort who require admission.
Health Minister James Reilly, through his Special Delivery Unit (SDU), recently launched an initiative to reduce ED overcrowding in hospitals that are responsible for most of the trolley waits.
The HSE report reveals that the safety body HIQA visited Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in mid-October, which resulted in a remedial action plan for its ED overcrowding being agreed.
There were 32 ED patients on trolleys in Drogheda on Friday.
Meanwhile the HSE performance report shows that hospitals are effectively being asked to treat fewer patients needing planned procedures for the remainder of the year in order to reduce their deficits.
The report says the number of inpatient and day case treatments is up by 2.1% on the same time last year and is above targeted levels.
It says the HSE regions were reminded last month of the HSE’s legal obligation to break even at year end and of the necessity to bring activity back to plan in locations where service plan targets are being exceeded.
The HSE says hospital activity above set target levels cannot be funded and plans to come back in line on a hospital-by-hospital basis are in place in each region.
The performance report says overall, the HSE had a net overspend of €234 million at the end of October, and is facing a €300 million deficit at the end of the year.
The HSE says a number of additional measures to tackle hospital deficits have been agreed, including asking hospitals to maximise their overdraft levels, to use surplus funds from their capital plans, and to accelerate income collection.
In addition, the HSE is seeking extra exchequer funding to meet the shortfall in the PCRS, which runs the medical card, drug cost subsidy and other community schemes.
The report shows hospitals were €145 million over budget at the end of September. Tallaght Hospital has since been promised additional funding this year to deal with its 2011 deficit, but will have to pay it back next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment