Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Due to the fact that I am a great champion of new politics, I am not going to get into a debate about bed capacity, closures and the records of various Ministers for Health in various Governments. As the Deputy has correctly pointed out, however, my Department has commenced a capacity review in line with the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government. I would like to assure Deputy Kelleher that this is a priority action for me and my Department.

As I have previously advised, my intention is that the review will have a wider scope than previous exercises - I believe there would be agreement in the House on the importance of that - and it will examine key elements of primary and community care infrastructure in addition to hospital facilities. It cannot just be about the hospital beds, it must be about the spectrum of beds across the health service.

Terms of reference for the review have been developed, these are as follows: to consider current capacity in the health system and benchmark with international comparators; to determine drivers of future demand for healthcare including demographic and epidemiological trends; to analyse how reforms to the model of care will impact on future capacity requirements across the system; and to provide an overall assessment of current and future capacity requirements for the period 2017 to 2030.

The review is being led by my Department. The Department of Health develops policy and the HSE is the operational arm of the health service. The review will also be overseen by a steering group, which is now in place. It includes senior officials from my Department and the Departments of the Taoiseach and Public Expenditure and Reform, the HSE and experts with a clinical and academic background. It will hold its first meeting this month. I expect the terms of reference for the review to be adopted and explained in full to the group at the meeting and that the group will begin detailed planning for the review process - including around the external expertise requirements, which I know the Deputy feels strongly about - and in respect of stakeholder consultations. An independent peer group of international health experts will also be established to review and validate the review methodology and findings. There will be an international dimension to this review.

I am keen that this review will be progressed sufficiently to enable it to feed into the mid-term review of the capital programme, which will take place later in the year. I must have a crystallised ask with regard to the number of beds, and I will have that information in time for the review. While the review will consider capacity requirements over the next decade or so, I am also anxious that it have a short-term focus and determine how capital investment over the coming years can be best targeted, given the current pressures being experienced within our hospital services.

The mechanisms for the review are now in place, as is the steering group. I look forward to the emerging findings later in the year.

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