Health Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 November 2010

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Questions (19)

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

18 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children in view of her assertion that she is no longer obliged to account to Dáil Éireann for the day to day running affairs and costs of the Health Service Executive and having particular regard to the high dependency of the population on the services provided throughout the health sector, her views on whether the HSE as a structure is capable of delivering a quality health service and if she will therefore take responsibility back and put in place structures that are transparent, accountable and workable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41898/10]

Written answers

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney)

The Health Act 2004 provided for the establishment of the Health Service Executive with its own Vote and Accounting Officer with effect from 1 January 2005. The HSE is providing thousands of services to young and old, in hospitals, health facilities and in communities across the country. These services range from public health nurses treating older people in the community to caring for children with challenging behaviour; from educating people how to live healthier lives, to performing highly-complex surgery; from planning for major emergencies, to controlling the spread of infectious diseases. The establishment of the HSE represented the beginning of the largest programme of change ever undertaken in the Irish public service. Prior to this our health care services were delivered through a range of different independent agencies. It was a complex structure that made it difficult to provide nationally consistent health services. The decision of the Government to replace all these agencies with the HSE signalled the start of a new era in Irish health care. Responsibility for day to day operational issues is a matter for the HSE, as provided for in the Health Act 2004. This was also the situation in the case of the former health boards.