HSE staff member earned almost €1m in 2022, report reveals

One member of HSE staff received almost €1 million in salary last year as the HSE’s pay bill surged by €730m to €7.16 billion.

The 2022 HSE annual report shows that eight HSE staff received between €500,000 and €980,000 in pay last year.

The top earner received €974,000.

The report also discloses that former HSE chief executive Paul Reid received €399,182 for 11 months work last year.

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Mr Reid stepped down from his post on December 1st last and his package last year was made up of basic pay of €339,549, allowances of €45,838 and benefit in kind (BIK) of €13,795.

[ Unused Covid-19 vaccines worth €95m discarded by HSE last year ]

HSE chief financial office Stephen Mulvany received €90,379 for serving as acting chief executive from October 3rd to the end of December.

Asked about the very best paid staff, the HSE said that despite intensive ongoing efforts to recruit, “one of the primary drivers behind high earnings in the HSE remains the shortage of consultant staff – particularly in relation to certain specialities (eg. radiology, psychiatry, emergency medicine) and in certain geographic areas”.

“There are a range of payments and allowances which have the potential to increase remuneration significantly above basic pay as part of standard contractual terms and conditions. These include payments in respect of clinical directorships and on-call allowances, compensatory rest days, structured overtime and funded waiting list initiatives, etc.

“Some individuals have recorded very significant payments during 2022. However, the primary reason behind these earnings remains the overriding requirement to maintain essential, critical services where significant vacancies or shortages exist. For example of the seven cases of highest earnings noted in 2022, six of these relate to additional commitments required to cover essential services (the remaining case relates to payment made on retirement).”

The accounts show that the HSE last year recorded a deficit of €185.16 million as the HSE’s overall spend increased by €1.7 billion or 8 per cent from €21.6 billion to €23.36 billion.

The figures show that the numbers of people earning more than €100,000 at the HSE last year increased by 808 from 3,982 to 4,790 last year.

Along with the eight earning over €500,000 a further 352 earned between €500,000 and €250,000; 859 between €200,000 and €250,000; 977 earned between €150,000 and €200,000 and 2,594 earned between €100,000 and €150,000.

The report discloses that the HSE received funding of €2bn from the Department of Health in 2022 to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also reveals that the HSE has incurred an overall write down of Covid-19 vaccine stocks of €94.4 million. The write-off for expiry are based on stocks that are out of date as at the end of December and those that are due to be out of date or no longer considered to have utility in the programme during 2023.

On the Covid-19 spend last year, the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) spend was €146 million, the spend on Covid-19 Vaccination Programme totalled €425 million; Covid-19 testing and tracing at €408m; the costs of securing private hospital capacity at €173 million; Acute Hospital and Community Covid-19 costs at €598 million and an overall €208 million cost attached to the Pandemic Special Recognition Payment.

The HSE’s pension bill last year increased from €811.37 million to €898.07 million made up of €158.98 million in one-off lump sum and gratuity payments and €739 million in ongoing pension payments.

The HSE’s overtime bill increased from €240.33 million to €276.57 million as its agency bill rose from €568.45 million to €619.5 million.

Numbers employed by the HSE last year increased by 3,719 from 85,508 to 89,227.