The HSE has not received any specific additional funding to meet the cost of incremental pay rises for staff this year, it has emerged.
The HSE has said it is anticipated it would cost about €24.5 million to pay incremental increases due to staff this year.
Increments are additional payments made on an annual or other regular basis to staff as they move up the pay scale.
In an answer to a written parliamentary question tabled by Billy Kelleher of Fianna Fáil, the HSE said it did not receive specific extra funding in 2015 to cover this and other pay costs, and was seeking to cover them from within the overall funding.
“The statutory HSE payroll cost in 2014 was €4.8 billion. In 2015, the net incremental pay scale issue is anticipated to be €24.5 million (0.5 per cent of payroll).
“While there is not a separate and specific allocation for increments, the cost is accommodated within the overall HSE pay budget.
“The HSE did not receive specific additional funding in 2015 to cover this and other pay costs pressures and is seeking to manage these within the overall funding.”
The HSE is expected to report later on Wednesday that it recorded a financial deficit of about €56 million in February.
