Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The report is a contribution, which is helpful but is hamstrung. By not considering the issue of workforce planning, the report is similar to a jigsaw with a massive piece missing from it. It cannot be displayed because the piece is so significant. That is not the fault of the PA Consulting Group representatives because they were told not to do it but that is a glaring and obvious mistake. As these reports are a snapshot in time, workforce planning is not a something that can be added on. It should have been part of the process. We can take the report as what it is but as regards it being a contribution to the overall process, having sat for 11 months to produce the Sláintecare report, it will not have a significant impact because it is corrupted. Our issues in this regard revolve around having the people to do the work in the first place that dictate decision making, strategies and pathways and that is not part of this review.

With regard to reform options, are there any silver bullets? Do any issues jump out to help deliver the capacity needed?

I refer to the issue of the community healthcare organisation, CHOs. and hospital groups. We spent a great deal of time on this for Sláintecare. This issue is bonkers. How much would the representatives dial up that issue? What solutions can be provided quickly?

On the alignment of the report with Sláintecare, do significant issues jump out that are contradictory?

There are demographic challenges in the context of future capacity but are there other infrastructural challenges that are not obvious? In particular, are there are geographical issues that jump off the page but which perhaps do not appear to those who are close to delivering health services? Are there are external factors that could have an impact on the capacity that could be delivered by the health service, particularly in dispersed geographical areas?