Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that the Minister for Health attends the quarterly meetings and we welcome that engagement very much. The point I am making is that the service plan is cast in stone in January every year. It is traditional for the Minister to refer it back to the HSE after scrutinising it. He will issue a press release saying it has been amended before the final plan is published. It is cast in stone at that stage. It is very hard for the Oireachtas committee to have an input in the delivery of services in that calendar year. The Minister might listen to what it has to say in advance of the following year's report. The committee's role in the delivery of health services in the current year does not extend beyond scrutinising how the plan is being implemented. There is no discussion about what should be in it in the first place. Clearly, that is the issue about which we are concerned.

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