Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, who is unable to take this Commencement matter raised by Senator Devine.

The current director general of the HSE will be vacating the post towards the end of July. Preparations are at an advanced stage regarding the process for appointing his replacement. This will be done in accordance with the provisions of the governing legislation, section 16E of the Health Act 2004, as amended by the Health Service (Governance) Act 2013. This requires that the recruitment process will be undertaken in line with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The recruitment will be carried out by the Public Appointments Service and will include an international executive search. The post is expected to be advertised shortly.

The importance of attracting the highest possible calibre of candidates cannot be overemphasised. The director general's role is to lead the HSE and to manage and be accountable for the administration and business of the executive. The HSE has a budget of €14.5 billion in 2018 with over 115,000 staff in whole-time equivalent terms.

The Sláintecare report sets out an ambitious plan to transform and enhance health services over the next decade. The report advocates a reorientation of the health service towards a high-quality integrated system providing care on the basis of need. The Government has committed to a significant programme of health reform arising from the report and an implementation plan will be submitted to the Government shortly. The next director general will, therefore, need to deal with a changing governance environment.

Under the current system, the director general is the chairperson of the directorate. The directorate is the governing body of the executive with authority to perform the functions of the executive. Work is ongoing to bring forward a Bill this year to legislate for the establishment of a governing board for the HSE. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, will be bringing a memorandum to the Government next week with the general scheme for a Bill. He hopes to receive the co-operation of the Oireachtas in getting the legislation passed this year in recognition of its importance to the reform agenda.

All Members will agree we need to ensure more robust and transparent structures of accountability across our health service. The appointment of a strong board is essential to achieving this. Subject to this proposed legislation, it is intended the directorate will be replaced by a board and the post of director general will be replaced by a chief executive officer who will be accountable to the board. The next director general will be required to contribute fully to the successful transition in organisational governance structures; to support the new board in its duties; and to fully discharge their accountability as chief executive officer to the board when established.

It is the Minister's intention that the post of director general will be advertised as soon as possible. The Department of Health is engaging now with the Public Appointments Service to progress this as a priority.