Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will be ready to go as soon as they are ready to go in terms of progressing it. I want to thank the hospital group CEO. She put a lot of work into it and ploughed on with it as well, which was very important for being ready. In Clonmel, the 40-bed modular is progressing. My understanding is that it is due to open very early in the new year. I will confirm that with the Deputy. I hope to be in a position to visit it shortly.

On geo-alignment, what the Deputy said is 100% correct. If the idea of Sláintecare is to reduce bureaucracy, increase accountability and move more services locally where appropriate to do so, we need to have regional entities with joined-up thinking and a continuum of care for the patient. Until we grasp that nettle, we cannot move forward much further. That is why we have taken a decision and there are a number of actions. The first strategic action is to consult and finalise decisions on the geographic alignment of hospital groups and community healthcare organisations by the end of this year. I will announce by the end of this year what I would like to be the regional entities; ultimately, it will be a matter for the Oireachtas to legislate. In 2019, in another specific action, we will introduce modifications to the hospital groups and community health organisations to ensure geographic alignment and will begin to develop processes for integrated performance management on an interim administrative basis. We will let them bed in and test. We will start in 2019 to devolve decision making. We have done this already with the hospital groups. We will devolve decision making and autonomy in line with their functionality. The action plan states that in 2021 we will legislate for these revised structures but, if I am to be very honest, if there was a willingness in the Oireachtas to legislate a little bit earlier I would be very open to doing that as well. I would like to do it quickly.

The other action on the alignment piece is for next year and is a really important one. As well as doing this, it is also envisaged to define the new organisational operation structure in terms of what the new slimmed-down HSE will do over time and what the Department of Health will do over time, the Department in the context of Sláintecare and the HSE in the context of new regional entities. There are five specific actions there on geo-alignment all taking place by the end of next year.

On Dr. Donal de Buitléir's group, publicly he has stated that he will have his work completed by the end of this year. I would hope to receive that report by the end of this year or very early next year. It is going to be a very important piece of work. As the Deputy knows, there are many vested interests arguing as to why we should not do this. There are many people whom the Deputy and I represent who need us to get it right. We need to get it right on a phased basis and in an appropriate way. I will be very much influenced by the work of that expert group which includes a lot of really good expertise.

On the GP contract, put bluntly, yes, I expect to be in a position to see progress if there is willingness on both sides, which I really think there is but it takes two sides to negotiate. I have a mandate now from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and from my own Department in terms of policy objectives being aligned with the funding stream.