Dáil debates

Thursday, 16 September 2021

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:20 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The resignations of Professor Tom Keane, chair of the Sláintecare advisory committee, and Laura Magahy, executive director of the Sláintecare programme, to reshape the health service have now been followed by the resignation of Professor Geraldine McCarthy, chair of the South/South West Hospital Group, who in a letter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, expressed concerns about the lack of progress in implementing Sláintecare reforms. These developments may be followed up by further resignations from the advisory committee, which has been left in the dark regarding what is going on and the reasons for the resignation of Professor Keane. Liam Doran was on the radio yesterday morning expressing those concerns.

One does not have to be a genius to see there are serious frustrations among those tasked with overseeing the Sláintecare reforms. It seems to be the case that this crisis is as the result of opposition at the top of the HSE to the creation of six new regional health bodies, which would result in the devolution of powers from the executive. The regionalisation of services is essential to Sláintecare and the integration of hospital and community healthcare and to respond to the financial public health needs in the regions but Paul Reid, who runs the HSE, stated last year that regionalisation was not a priority and it seems the Minister agrees.

I was a member of the Dáil committee, along with the Minister, that produced the Sláintecare report. It was well understood by the committee that the proposed reforms, in reality a revolution in how our healthcare would be delivered, would meet with serious opposition whether from the Department of Health, the HSE, elements among the medical profession and the numerous vested interests in private healthcare. That is why two key recommendations dealing with the implementation of Sláintecare were included in the report. One was that the implementation oversight body would not be placed in the Department of Health but in the Taoiseach's office and, second, that there would be special funding of €600 million a year for five years to support its work.

In 2017, when the Government, of which Deputy Varadkar was the Taoiseach, accepted the Sláintecare programme, neither of these two recommendations were implemented. The oversight body was placed in the Department of Health and no specific funding was allocated. I believe this was done deliberately. The political commitment to implement Sláintecare as envisioned by the committee report was simply not there and still is not. Dr. Michael Harty, in 2019, came into the House on Leaders’ Questions and explained very succinctly why Sláintecare was not being implemented properly.

Does the Tánaiste agree that what needs to be done now is to move the implementation body to the Department of the Taoiseach immediately? The Taoiseach's statement that the Department does not have the staff to run the health service is ridiculous. Nobody is asking it to do that. It is about giving the implementation body the clout of the Taoiseach's office to deal effectively with opposition.

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