Bernard Allen
Ceist:109 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps he proposes to take, in conjunction with his Northern Ireland counterpart, to have closer cross-Border co-operation on emergency admissions. [22766/00]
Written Answers. - Accident and Emergency Services.
The scope for co-operation on accident and emergency services generally at the operational level between health agencies North and South has been reviewed recently in discussions between officials of my Department and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Belfast.
Arising from the discussions, proposals will be presented to the next meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in food safety promotion and health sector format on 3 November for ways to improve cross border co-operation on emergency planning and on ambulance services.
I should mention that while Minister de Brún and I are actively seeking to develop an agenda for closer co-operation, we are mindful of the considerable levels of co-operation that already exist between health boards and trusts in the border areas. The Co-operation and Working Together initiative in particular has been successful in building relationships between the agencies involved in service planning and delivery in border areas.