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Public Sector Reform Review

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 November 2012

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Questions (272)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

272. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of bodies that have been abolished or amalgamated by his Department out of the list of bodies listed in the Public Service Reform document of 17 November 2011; the savings or cost of this in 2012; the projected savings or cost of this programme in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50541/12]

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Written answers

The Public Service Reform document on 17th November 2011 identified there agencies under the aegis if this Department to be rationalised, amalgamated or abolished in 2012. , The National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery was dissolved on the 31st December, 2011. In relation to the Opticians Board, a Working Group was established in 2010 to provide legislatively for the subsumation of the Opticians Board into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council. It is expected it will be end 2012 before the draft heads are available for Ministerial approval as part of the Health Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2012. With regard to the National Cancer Registry Board, with the ongoing changes to the structures of the HSE, I consider that it would not at this stage be appropriate to subsume the Registry into the National Cancer Control Programme.

Progress on the candidates for critical review in the Public Health Reform document such as the Mental Health Commission and HIQA will be contingent on other factors such as the creation of a Patient Safety Authority and in the case of the National Treatment Purchase Fund and Health Insurance Authority, in the context of the move to Universal Health Insurance. I am considering the precise future role of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board in light of the overall governance structures required for the effective running of the new children's hospital and the project to build it. With regard to PHECC, I have decided that it should continue to operate in its present form for a further period and the matter will be kept under review with a view to proceeding with the integration with CORU when it is operationally ready to assume the functions involved, which is expected to be 4 or 5 years.

The extent of savings will vary between organisations and the majority of staff will be redeployed to other public service bodies, as was the case with the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery. Efficiencies will derive from economies of scale and the elimination of duplication in areas such as recruitment, procurement, payroll and ICT systems. Savings will also arise from the dissolution of Agency Boards, some of which attract payment of travel and subsistence and/or Board fees.

Question No. 273 answered with Question No. 251.
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