Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. Other members are looking to come in, but I wish to welcome the progress that has been made regarding Sláintecare.

I have gone through many of the big-ticket items relating to it. I welcome the fact that the RHAs will progress early next year. It is all positive news, but I share the concern that it is a ten-year implementation plan and that we are already six years into it. I just question if it will be fully implemented in ten years. It does not look like it at the moment, but I am optimistic about that.

A number of Members referred to beds. It has been a common theme. There was mention of the fact that the system we have is slow and cumbersome. The really frustrating thing for the committee is the fact that we know of plans that have been submitted and know they will not impact the hospital system, as such, if we get the go-ahead on them. We all accept that there is a need for those beds, so if there is a system that can be speeded up, will the witnesses come back to us and inform us as soon as possible? I think it is a frustration with the system that we all share.

One of the cornerstones of Sláintecare is the digital transformation and eHealth. It is a key area. Has a recruitment campaign for a director of digital transformation begun? The previous director resigned a couple of months ago. I am concerned about the pace of reform. This was also mentioned in discussions here about some of the massive changes that happened during the Covid pandemic. I acknowledge the fact that a lot of those positive changes and new applications came from in-house. We do not recognise that positive work. It came not from the outside but from staff within the system.

In the same vein, there is the recruitment of a chief information security officer. We know about the challenges of cybersecurity. I would have thought, with all the big markets out there and the likes of Google, Microsoft and so on, that it would be more favourable to try to recruit someone. Is there any news in that regard?

Could the witnesses explain to me why there has been no eHealth Ireland committee meeting since 18 September 2019? I know that the committee was replaced by a technology and transformation committee. I do not know what the difference between the two is. How many times has the committee met? What is the difference between the two committees? What type of work has been done in that regard? It is about that key area of digital transformation. Who wants to answer those questions?