Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Deputy Martin had a long tirade there. He has been asking questions about the production of the HSE governance Bill for some time. It was cleared yesterday by Cabinet and will be published today. That Bill will establish seven directorates dealing with hospital care, primary care, mental health, social care, child and family services, public health and corporate shared services. There will be a much clearer line of accountability in respect of moneys voted by the Oireachtas for the provision of health services, with particular emphasis on the patient and on the front line. We have made the point on many occasions in the past that the HSE, because of its structure and the way it was initially set up, created a lack of clarity about where the voted moneys were being spent and how effective that spending was. The May report produced by the HSE clearly shows overruns in some areas. Some of these are because of increased hospital activity, increased throughput of patients in accident and emergency departments and so on.

I understand that for some time the chief executive, Mr. Cathal Magee, has been discussing with the Department of Health the intended changes to the structure of the HSE in the context of the governance Bill. Having considered the new structure that is to be established, Mr. Magee indicated that it is his intention to depart when the transition takes place. I thank him for his service as a person of integrity and commitment. The answer to Deputy Martin's question is in the negative.

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