Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 15, 31 and 47 together.

Military medical services and their facilities exist to maintain the health of the Defence Forces and to support them in operational and overseas activities. The focus of the military medical service is on primary care, occupational medicine, acute trauma management, preventative medical programmes and field medical training.

The challenges in the medical arena have been recognised for some time and a review of the provision of medical services is ongoing as part of the modernisation agenda for the Defence Forces. The representative associations are involved with us in this review. The scope of the review includes the level of service to be provided to members of the Defence Forces and the resources required for the delivery of that service.

The review has already produced a patients charter with the agreement of all parties, which I welcome. The agreement on the patients' charter identifies the rights of members of the Defence Forces as patients and their obligations as users of the Defence Forces medical services. It also identifies the obligations on the providers of the services.

The implementation of the patients charter is under way. The military authorities have assured me that issues such as publicising the charter, displaying names of medical personnel and the awareness of personnel about the medical or dental officer with responsibility for the management of their medical care will be implemented in the coming weeks.

However, the full implementation of the charter is clearly dependent on the resolution of the structural, resource and other challenges facing the medical corps. The challenges we face with medical services in the Defence Forces and therefore the scope of the medical review go beyond the patients charter. It is one item on the medical review agenda. The Minister looks forward to the active engagement of the representative associations with the overall process.

In view of the complexity of the challenge and the need for concrete steps, the Minister has decided to engage consultants to make recommendations on the best means of meeting the medical requirements of the Defence Forces. Tenders for the engagement of consultants have been issued with a tender closing date of 18 April. The consultancy will deal with all relevant issues affecting the sustainable provision of the relevant medical expertise and services to the Defence Forces.

The development of the capacity of the medical corps forms part of An Agreed Programme for Government. The Minister is committed to providing a sustainable medical service to meet the needs of the Defence Forces both at home and abroad. I can assure the House that Defence Forces personnel requiring medical treatment are getting the care they need.

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