Prior to the establishment of the Health Service Executive, parliamentary questions concerning access to services by individuals or in specific geographic areas were referred to the chief executive officer of the relevant health board or Eastern Regional Health Authority for direct reply.
Pursuant to the Health Act 2004, the functions of the health boards and ERHA were transferred to the HSE. Under the Act, the HSE has responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to have delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. The establishment of the HSE brought into being a new unitary system for the delivery and management of health services at local, regional and national level. The move to the new structure presented an opportunity for an improved service for providing information to Oireachtas Members. Last April the HSE established a parliamentary affairs division which provides a central contact for all Oireachtas requests for information relating to matters within the statutory remit of the executive.
The key purpose in establishing the HSE's parliamentary affairs division is to provide a strong mechanism and specific resource to address the information needs of Oireachtas Members in connection with the discharge by the HSE of its statutory responsibilities under the 2004 Act. The establishment of the division provides, for the first time, a systematic approach to monitoring and improving the performance of the health service delivery system in replying to information requests from Oireachtas Members.
The HSE aims to operate within a timeframe of 20 working days from the date of asking a parliamentary question for the issue of a final reply to a Deputy. This reflects the arrangements which the former health boards and ERHA adopted prior to the HSE's establishment. It is a starting point and the HSE is committed to reducing this period as it develops its organisational and information capacity. The HSE endeavours to provide more immediate responses in instances where the information sought in the question is of a routine nature or is readily available.
I share the Deputy's concern about a timeframe of two months for the issue of a response in the case concerned. I refer to the HSE's commitment to responding within 20 working days and to reducing this response time progressively as underlining its approach to achieving the objective of timely provision of information to Oireachtas Members. I had inquiries made on foot of the Deputy's question and have been advised by the HSE that a reply setting out the position on the repair and replacement of hearing aids has issued to him.
