Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th November, 2021.

I, STEPHEN DONNELLY, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 42 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (No. 34 of 2017), being satisfied that subsection (6) of that section has been complied with; having complied with subsection (9) of that section; having had regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (10) of that section, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Section 42) (Payments in Respect of Certain Services Rendered in Response to the Risk to Public Health Posed by Covid-19) (No. 2) Regulations 2021.

2. These Regulations shall cease to have effect on the 1^st February 2022.

3. In these Regulations –

“Agreement of 2020” means the agreement dated the 19^th day of March 2020 between the Minister for Health, the Health Service Executive and the Irish Medical Organisation in respect of the provision of services in response to the risk to human life and public health posed by the spread of Covid-19;

“Covid-19” means a disease caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 and specified as an infectious disease in accordance with Regulation 6 of, and the Schedule to, the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1981 ) or any variant of the disease so specified as an infectious disease in those Regulations;

“Covid-19 remote consultation” means a consultation between a relevant service provider and a patient, or a person acting on his or her behalf, that is carried out other than in person, whether by telephone or other electronic means, for the purposes of assessing whether that patient may have contracted Covid-19;

“dedicated respiratory assessment”, in relation to a patient in respect of whom an assessment has been made pursuant to a Covid-19 remote consultation that he or she may have contracted Covid-19, means a surgery assessment for the purposes of determining the clinical needs of the patient;

“relevant service provider” means a service provider who renders a service to or on behalf of the Health Service Executive under and in accordance with the Agreement of 2020;

“service” means –

(a) a dedicated respiratory assessment, or

(b) a Covid-19 remote consultation,

rendered by a relevant service provider under and in accordance with the terms of the Agreement of 2020.

4. These Regulations shall apply to payments in respect of services rendered by a relevant service provider to or on behalf of the Health Service Executive under and in accordance with the Agreement of 2020.

5. The amount of the payment specified in column (3) of the Schedule opposite a particular reference number in column (1) thereof is prescribed as the payment to be made to a relevant service provider in respect of the particular service specified in column (2) thereof.

SCHEDULE

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform consents to the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,

23 November, 2021.

MICHAEL MCGRATH,

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

24 November, 2021.

STEPHEN DONNELLY,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations shall apply to payments in respect of services rendered by a general practitioner to or on behalf of the HSE for patients affected by Covid-19.