Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Deputies for their participation in the debate. I note and welcome the support expressed by many for the introduction of this legislation, but I am disappointed that the spokesperson for the main Opposition party is not supporting the Bill.

A fundamental principle of the health service reform programme is that the users of health and personal social services should be placed at the centre. It is important to stress that the Bill will bring about real and significant changes for service users. It establishes the Health Information and Quality Authority, incorporating the office of the chief inspector of social services. This independent organisation will reinforce the safety and quality of health and personal social services to ensure all service users can be assured that the services they receive are of a uniformly high standard. These statutory functions give the HIQA a significant role in shaping the health service and the standards set by it will provide a clear blueprint for a quality driven service.

The HIQA also has a health technology assessment role. Health technology assessment is widely regarded as able to deliver succinct, high quality and trusted evidence to decision makers at all levels of the health care system. It is envisaged that the HIQA's health technology assessment function will support evidence-based decisions and that the availability of impartial evaluations of the clinical value and cost effectiveness of complex health technologies, including drugs, will be an invaluable tool for service providers and health care practitioners and policymakers. I should emphasise that the role of the HIQA will be to advise the Minister and the executive on this issue.

The HIQA's evaluation role in regard to health information will lead to better information for supporting evidence-based approaches to health care which, in turn, will achieve improved health outcomes. The need for information that facilitates prioritisation, planning, evidence-based decision-making, efficient service delivery and monitoring and evaluation at all levels was acknowledged in the health strategy. The national health information strategy, launched in 2004, lays the foundation for the provision of enhanced health information across the health service. It recommends the necessary actions to address current deficiencies in health information systems and put in place the frameworks needed to ensure the optimal development and utilisation of health information. The HIQA will now have a central role in health information development and the implementation of the recommendations set out in the national health information strategy.

I would like to briefly touch on some issues raised by Deputies. They were interested in clarifying the status of the HIQA, accountability issues, the extent of the body's remit, the standards referred to in the Bill, the role of the chief inspector of social services and inspections of residential centres. The HIQA will be an independent agency, completely separate from the HSE, and have its own budget. The Bill provides for the CEO of the HIQA to appear before Oireachtas committees.

In the context of the HIQA's remit, some Deputies commented on the exclusion of a reference to mental health services from the Bill. I stress that this is because the legislative and regulatory framework is already in place under the Mental Health Acts, the Mental Health Commission and the inspector of mental hospitals.

Concerns were expressed that acute hospitals might also fall outside the HIQA's remit but that will not be the case. The HIQA has the power to set and monitor standards in respect of acute hospital services and can also operate accreditation programmes for hospitals. I should mention also in respect of hospitals that, as indicated by the Minister, the commission on patient safety and quality assurance has been established to look at the issue of the licensing of hospitals, with an associated enforcement regime. A requirement for all health-care providers, public and private, to be licensed for service delivery by the State would ensure minimum standards of professional qualifications and premises quality would need to be complied with.

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