Duncan Smith
Question:703. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he has confidence in the HSE to manage the finances received from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9224/22]
View answerTuesday, 22 February 2022
Questions (703, 710)
Duncan Smith
Question:710. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health his views on the financial reporting to his Department by the HSE as per reports in a newspaper (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9232/22]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 703 and 710 together.
The Department of Health and the HSE work closely together to manage the health service and, through Sláintecare, implement the much-needed reform to deliver a better health service for the public. This working relationship, characterised by mutual respect, is professional and constructive. However, it is widely acknowledged that there are many legacy issues across the health service to be addressed. As you may be aware, core elements of the HSE’s financial system at local level are still a reported under the former Health Board system - the HSE, my Department, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have prioritised the modernisation of the HSE’s financial reporting systems. My officials are supporting the HSE on an overall Finance reform programme to enhance the financial reporting capability of the HSE. The HSE has already undertaken substantial internal work on this issue, and, with the active engagement and support of my Department, the HSE is working to deliver a new modern integrated financial reporting system to address the issues associated with current legacy systems. This project will progressively deliver significant enhancements to financial reporting and streamline procurement processes as it is rolled out across the HSE system and the larger Section 38 and Section 39 health providers. My Department and the HSE are not just focused on longer term projects to deliver new systems. Both agencies are also working together in close cooperation on making interim enhancements to the HSE's financial reporting capabilities, which in turn enable my Department to provide timely updates to a range of stakeholders including Government, the Health Budget Oversight Group and the Parliamentary Budget Office. In this regard, I would highlight the work undertaken by the HSE Finance Team with support from Department of Health officials over the past two years to make a series of interim financial reporting improvements, within the constraints of current legacy systems focused on a shared understanding and reporting around the HSE’s financial position. For example, new monthly working capital reports and weekly detailed COVID-19 expenditure reporting. These enhancements are welcomed by the Department. However, this is much more to be done in this area and it will be continue to be a key priority for both agencies to work cooperatively to deliver further improvements within the constraints of current systems ahead of the implementation of new systems. It is also important to highlight the role of the Health Budget Oversight Group. This group is a monthly engagement which forms part of the overall financial management and governance process between the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I am aware that a Sunday newspaper has published a number of unverified statements on Sunday 13th February and Sunday 20th February. These statements are based on comments alleged to have been made by officials in my Department which the newspaper reports that it has extracted from alleged recordings of private internal discussions within the Department. You will appreciate that my Department has not been afforded access to these alleged recordings which therefore constrains my ability to verify the matters reported or to comment constructively further. However, it is clear that any alleged recordings which may have been obtained are unverified, and were made without the consent or knowledge of the participants in breach apparent breach of privacy rights of the individuals concerned, and as such the reported remarks self-evidently do not represent the formal position of either myself as Minister for Health nor indeed of the Department of Health. I would like to put on record my more general concern - in relation to the appropriateness of the reporting by the Sunday Business Post in printing alleged unverified and casual comments attributed to named officials which were allegedly obtained from recordings of private discussions obtained without the consent or knowledge of the participants concerned. There is an important principle at stake here where we must protect the right of our public servants to engage in private and at times necessarily robust discussions. This is an essential and appropriate part of the deliberative process engaged in by officials and reporting alleged casual comments of individuals in this way will only serve to limit constructive debate and dialogue across the civil service and this is damaging to the public interest. However, it is important to also put on record that the fact that a number of claims have been reported in these two newspaper articles which I referred to above are in fact wholly inaccurate. We have clarified these matters in various other fora and I have taken the opportunity to set out the correct factual position in relation to these matters here also:
- The Sunday Business Post reported on 13th February and 20th February that the HSE sought just €10m in additional funding for mental health last year. That is untrue. The actual figure sought from the HSE was €35m.
- The newspaper speculated that a prior HSE adjustment could run to hundreds of millions. The HSE has noted that is untrue. The HSE have stated that any adjustment will be of a technical nature and be less than €100m. It is as yet unclear whether the HSE will require to make an adjustment in respect to its 2021 financial statements in respect of previous years accounts.
- The report focused on targets for recruitment. Budget 2022 secured funding for up to 10,000 additional staff. We want to hire these and while we should be ambitious, the HSE has said 5,500 is more realistic. However, we will strive to do better and the money is there. The newspaper spoke about so-called fake recruitment targets. This is a complete misrepresentation of the actual position and fails to detail that more than 12,500 healthcare staff have been hired (net) over the past two years.
- On Sunday 20th February, the Sunday Business Post newspaper appears to be suggesting that some €30m given in funding to palliative care providers (hospices) and disability providers is questionable. We fully back the decision to support these organisations.
- There is a claim in the Sunday Business Post on Sunday 20th February that an additional hospital will require more staff. That’s self-evident to most people. We absolutely need more hospital beds. We have far fewer beds per 100,000 population than our EU neighbours. Of course public representatives from Limerick and elsewhere will look for additional capacity -the Government has plans to develop additional elective facilities in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and for the opportunity to set out the actual position on a number of the matters that have been reported.