Ms Sarah Treleaven:

That is what we term a population health approach to service planning. There is an intention that regional health areas and even the building blocks of regional health areas, CHNs, would have information on the demographics of their populations in order to best plan their services. It is intended that by doing so we will address the health inequalities the Senator mentioned.

We recognise that different areas of the country need different service models or emphasis on particular aspects of service models. We are hoping to empower RHAs to make those decisions based upon the available information they have about the demographics. At the centre, the HSE would set some frameworks or guidance on the assessment of those demographics and RHAs would take that information and plan their services from there within their available budget.