Contracts for nurses re-ignite row over retirees [Independent.ie]
- Published: 14 February 2010
NURSES who retired on full pensions are back working in the health service on contracts, re-igniting the row over retired public servants taking jobs away from unemployed graduates.
More than 360 retired nurses earned a total of €8.1m working across the health service in 2008 at a time when hundreds of newly qualified nurses were unemployed. And in one Dublin psychiatric hospital, St Brendan's in Grangegorman, up to 15 retired nurses are currently working on short-term contracts.
The practice of hiring retired health employees on a part-time basis is not restricted to nursing. In 2008, the HSE paid €13.7m to retired staff for "services", according to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. Health sources say the practice has increased since then because the moratorium on hiring new staff has forced health services to rely on part-time workers and on overtime.
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