Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Health the action his Department is taking to implement the Sláintecare report. [41051/17]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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What action is the Department of Health taking to implement the Sláintecare report? As the Minister knows, the report was published after a great deal of deliberation and was primarily cross-party in nature. Has the Department set up the task force to deal with the timeframe for the report's implementation?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Kelleher for his timely question. The Government is committed to making tangible and sustained improvements to our health services. I believe genuinely that the Sláintecare report now provides a framework and a direction of travel to do this. We have a level of consensus and support for the vision and strategic direction outlined in the report that is unprecedented in the House. I am determined to harness this consensus by working with colleagues across the political spectrum and all other stakeholders to move forward on this very important agenda.

The Government has already approved the establishment of a Sláintecare programme office. That happened at its last meeting before the summer recess. The office will be tasked with implementing a programme of reform, as agreed by Government, arising from the Sláintecare report. It will be led by a senior executive with a strong track record in implementing reform. Work is under way between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure that we are positioned to attract candidates of this high calibre for one of the largest public service reform processes ever undertaken in this State. It is essential, therefore, that we get this recruitment process right.

In parallel, work is under way in my Department to develop a detailed response to the report for consideration by the Government in December. The Deputy will remember that the report itself talks about the delivery by the programme office of a draft implementation plan by the end of the year. This plan will seek to translate the Sláintecare report into a programme of action for the next ten years. It will consider the issues that arise in designing such a programme, including key actions, deliverables, costings, timelines and key performance indicators. It was acknowledged in the Sláintecare report that more detailed consideration of these issues was required and it is important that this work is undertaken now. My Department will involve professionals with significant experience of developing implementation arrangements for major change projects.

We are all aware that there will be significant challenges to overcome to effect deep and systemic change in our health care system, but we have no choice and must begin the change process now. It is one of the Government's key priorities. The focus now must be on ensuring that the implementation phase is properly designed and that a clear implementation plan is developed as quickly as possible. As I said, I expect to have the implementation plan by the end of the year.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister stated that the principles set out in the report provide a basis on which to get the important calls right through the implementation process. Given the broad cross-party consensus, it is something into which we can all buy. In that context, there were a number of issues which were the subject of protracted debate in the committee which prepared the report. One key recommendation as a result was the elimination of private care in public hospitals. There was a great deal of debate on that issue. Concerns were also expressed, however, that there could be unintended consequences. With that in mind, the committee acknowledged that it would be complex to remove private care from public hospitals and stated that there was a need to set up a process to analyse the impact it could have on services recruitment, as well as other unintended consequences. How far along is the Minister in establishing an independent impact analysis of the separation of public and private care, in particular with reference to the difficulty of recruiting and retaining consultants and other unintended consequences? It is a key area which must be addressed very quickly. It is a fundamental part of the overall Sláintecare report's recommendations.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is entirely correct. As a member of the committee which published the report, he will be more familiar even than me with the debates which took place. The call for an impact study by the committee was sensible. We all want to get to a position where we can decouple the public from the private; certainly, I do. It is ethically questionable that we have a situation in the Irish health service today where emergency departments are crowded, there is a shortage of beds and public waiting lists are long while private practice carries on unabated and, sometimes, unchecked within public hospitals. None of us feel that is fair. The issue is exactly as the Deputy suggests. What would be the consequences of doing that, what road should we travel and how are these things to be disentangled? That is likely to take a number of years to determine, which is why the best thing to do is establish the independent impact study to provide a full appraisal of all of the facts. I spoke about this at the Health Management Institute of Ireland conference this week and expect to be in a position to announce details of the impact study in the coming weeks.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Will that be separate from the overall implementation body? It will be a completely separate entity.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I think so, yes.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Will terms of reference be published and will experts be appointed?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes. It is my strong view that we do not need to wait for the implementation plan at the end of the year to make progress on this. I will be happy to discuss the terms of reference with Members across the House.