Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

The number of staff in the Department has reduced by 25% since the Health Service Executive was established. The Department was never an operational Department. In the health board era it was never involved in operational issues. A myth has arisen in this regard. The Accounting Officer role has changed. The chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive who spends the money is accountable to the Oireachtas for the expenditure of that money. That is an appropriate management tool and although it has been criticised in some quarters it has been very much praised in another. It is not acceptable that a Secretary General of a Department who is not responsible for the expenditure of money and operational issues should have remained the Accounting Officer.

The huge change in the Department was acknowledged in the report. Unfortunately, the report was leaked. I say that because the staff in the Department were entitled to hear from management on the outcome of the report before they read it in a newspaper but someone chose to leak the report and we have to deal with that. The role of the Department has changed immensely. For example, until recently the medical team in the Department led by the chief medical officer had an advisory role; now the chief medical officer heads up a division of the Department and has management responsibility for patient safety. That is the division dealing, for example, with the upcoming licensing and accreditation of health facilities. The role has changed enormously. The report is full of praise for the Department in many respects, including the cancer policy, the cardiovascular strategy and the fair deal.

Deputy O'Sullivan inquired whether there are too many staff. Most Oireachtas Members who have an interest in this area were exposed to the team of three people who were involved not just in putting together the fair deal legislation but in discussing it with all stakeholders and other Departments. We are usually accused of not being accountable to the Oireachtas but we are one of the most productive Departments in terms of producing legislation. Last year four major Bills were produced and 12 Bills are in preparation. The Department deals with more than 5,000 parliamentary questions and 500 Adjournment debates. It is an extremely busy Department.

The head of the Department in this case is the Minister and the Ministers of State. The management team is led by the Secretary General. We are fortunate to have one of the most dynamic public servants of his generation. It is a matter for him and his management team to address the issue if it is the case that some people do not have enough to do and others at the lower levels have too much to do. That is not an acceptable position from management's perspective and the Secretary General and his team intend to deal with that.

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