Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The report, which was published in October, was particularly critical of the Department of Health and Children. It stated that the Department had not yet got to grips with managing the Health Service Executive, that allocation of staff was uneven and that staff morale within the Department was at a very low level. It went on to state "the quality of leadership [within] the Department is uneven" and concluded that staff allocation was highly unbalanced. What actions have been taken to improve the position within the Department of Health and Children arising from that report? In the context of the decision taken to proceed with a voluntary redundancy scheme in the HSE, can the Taoiseach indicate whether a similar scheme was considered for the Department of Health and Children itself? Has there been a marrying up of the issue of staff allocation and staff requirements in the HSE with that in the Department of Health and Children?

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