David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1213: To ask the Minister for Health the progress that has been made to date in establishing an integrated care agency as provided for in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17855/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The integration of care in all settings is key to efficient and high quality health care delivery, in which the right care is delivered in the right place. As set out in the Programme for Government, the integration of care will be the responsibility of an Integrated Care Agency under the aegis of the Minister for Health. The Integrated Care Agency will manage the integration of funding across the spectrum of services by overseeing the flow of centrally-funded resources between the different arms of the system so that there are incentives for care to occur in the best setting.

The reform programme is a complex and major undertaking that requires careful planning and sequencing. Detailed consideration must be given to the optimal structures for delivery of different services and to the critical inter-relationships between services as well as best practice in health care reform. I recently announced significant changes in the governance of the Health Service Executive under which the current Board/Chief Executive structure will be replaced with a Directorate as a transitional governance structure pending the abolition of the HSE as the health reform programme advances. In tandem with the proposed new governance structures, new administrative structures will be put in place within the HSE which will reflect the need for a greater operational management focus on the delivery of key services, and greater transparency about funding, service delivery and accountability.

These new governance and administrative arrangements represent important first steps in the process of delivering the reform agenda contained in the Programme for Government. The next steps, which will include measures to facilitate clearer and better integrated delivery and funding arrangements, are under consideration at present.