Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right. As she is aware, we have put chairs in place on an administrative basis and we have tried to fill boards but I accept that we want to get them set up on a statutory basis. I am not sure that we should engage significant legislative and Dáil time if we can move ahead with the alternative structure. I just need a few weeks on that and I will report to Government and then to the Oireachtas on the issue. As Deputy O'Reilly probably knows also, I have announced my intention to move ahead with the HSE board and the legislation required for that this year, which will address the broader issue of governance that we have discussed previously at the committee.

The bed capacity review will be completed by September, to be specific. I disagree with the Deputy. A bed capacity review is required, because one cannot simply pluck figures out of the air. Beds in health care are much more complex than the beds in which we sleep at night in our homes. There are different types of beds. There are acute beds and a range of beds across the spectrum of care be it primary, social or acute. The worst thing we could do is just count the number of acute hospital beds we need or think we need without looking at the benefit or otherwise of primary care, social care and community beds, where we need them, the cost of doing this and taking account of the demographic pressures.

Representations from Members of the Oireachtas is a matter for the HSE.

On the Devereaux family, we have all shared similar expressions on this in the House. I had the pleasure of talking to Mrs. Kathleen Devereaux last night. She is reunited with her husband today. It is her 86th birthday and she is back where she should be, with her husband of 63 years. I am delighted that has happened but frustrated that it ever had to get to that point. I accept that these decisions must be made with regard to metrics in clinical decisions. We all accept that these are clinical decisions. However, having looked at the fair deal legislation, I believe there is enough flexibility within the current provisions to enable common sense and compassion to preside when these decisions are being made. When the issue came to the attention of the HSE nationally, I am pleased that it acted swiftly and in a compassionate manner to reunite Mr. and Mrs. Devereaux. I am frustrated that the compassion and common sense were not in place at an earlier stage at local level. I have asked the Department to examine the specifics of this case and, more important, to scan through the CHO areas to find out if there are other potential instances. I certainly hope there are not, but it is important to do that. My colleague, Deputy Jim Daly, will be reviewing the fair deal and might wish to comment on the issue shortly.

Finally, to respond to Deputy Murphy O'Mahony, I will ask the HSE to give its perspective on drug reimbursement. From my perspective, I read many reports in newspapers about how many drugs have been approved in the Department of Health and sometimes the information is not the same as the information I have. There are three drugs currently with the Department and I expect we will process them quite quickly. A number of others are expected within the next month or so and a number of other drugs are still being considered by the HSE. It is worth acknowledging that the pipeline of drugs is increasing every year, which is a good thing for our patients. Thank God, people are coming up with new ways of providing treatments and improving people's quality of life. However, the pipeline is getting bigger and more costly every year. We saw the great progress the country made with Orkambi, but we also saw the tortuous process involved. I recently travelled to Malta and signed the Valletta Declaration, along with seven other countries in the European Union, which states that we will work together on trying to procure drugs. We have talked a great deal about working together over the years but this was the first concrete step. Indeed, the first meeting of that group at official level is taking place this month. I will be happy to provide the Deputy with any other information I have.

On the waiting lists, I agreed previously and still agree that we must examine using capacity in smaller hospitals which do not have the pressures of emergency departments. There are already some examples of that in some of our smaller hospitals. I usually use the example of the RCSI hospital group, where a number of scopes that could have been carried out in Beaumont Hospital were carried out in Cavan General Hospital. Cavan General Hospital has an emergency department but it had spare capacity. The job is to identify spare capacity and the NTPF and the HSE are working on that. Perhaps the HSE can respond directly to the Deputy about Bantry.

The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, can comment on home help hours but, as he said earlier, we must get to the point where we will have a statutory home care scheme. We cannot continue to tell people that we believe they should have a right to grow old in their own homes with dignity in their communities, yet when they put their hands up and seek any assistance the only statutory scheme available is the fair deal scheme. Fair deal is working very well now. It is well funded and the four week turnaround time is being met by the HSE. However, there is cross-party consensus that there must be an alternative route for a statutory home care scheme. We must ensure that is done sensitively and by engaging with older people. We will move on that consultation shortly.

The issue of GP retention is largely caught up with the contract. If one offers people a modern, fit-for-purpose contract they are more likely to want to work here. In terms of rural Ireland, if one offers them an opportunity to have a salaried contract rather than them having to set up a viable small and medium enterprise, SME, it might be more attractive. These issues are under discussion in the context of the contract.