Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. Last year, the Government decided to reintroduce a board to oversee the operations of the HSE. I commend Senator Boyhan on quoting the Scally report, which makes clear and common sense. Its recommendations are not couched in political speak to confound us all, leaving us guessing the words and what they mean. The Government's decision followed a number of high-profile scandals within the health service, which were mainly due to failures within the HSE at corporate level.

The new board will be a slimmed down, nine-person version of the former HSE board. Six years ago, the Fine Gael-led Government removed the then ten-person version of the board. Sinn Féin opposed the legislation which sought to dissolve the board not because we thought the board was working well but because the legislation bestowed too much additional power on the Minister and did not give the Dáil additional powers of scrutiny or make the Minister further answerable to the Dáil. It is welcome, therefore, that the Government has seen fit to reverse the decision of six years ago. There was talk that the board would include a patient advocate, which is something Sinn Féin is determined to achieve in the wake of the Cervical Check scandal. Our determination predates this scandal, however. Senators know that I am passionate about this issue, as evidenced by the motion I tabled during the previous session in respect of parent advocates on the steering committee for children with complex needs. I welcome the fact that there will be a minimum of two patient advocates on the board but I am interested to know how they will be selected. How will that process work? I am pleased that patient advocates will no longer be sidelined, ignored or considered a nuisance.

The Government claims that the new board will restore public confidence in the HSE through a series of actions to strengthen the management, governance and accountability of the organisation. These are grand claims but they are the same as those made when the board was dissolved. Only greater oversight and proper accountability of the board by the Minister of the day will ensure better governance, accountability and delivery of our health services. It is a pity that we did not have that view six years ago. Instead, the Minister of the day decided to remove what can be seen as the checks and balances of good governance that applied to the HSE. We welcome the reintroduction of the HSE board because it is standard practice for public bodies to have an independent board which operates at arm's length from Government and provides independent oversight, particularly in the context of the spending of public money and accountability to the taxpayer. It was a sad state of affairs for the former Minister to do away with the necessary and important checks and balances.

When the HSE board was dissolved in 2012, there was an opportunity to progressively reform the organisation in order to achieve the highest level of corporate governance. This was not done and amendments to strengthen the legislation at the time were not facilitated. We did not support the dissolution legislation for that reason. Indeed, we have the same concerns regarding the Bill before the House. We would like to see provisions strengthened to make the Minister for Health and the new board more accountable to the Dáil. The board must also be able to robustly hold the Minister to account and the Oireachtas must be able to hold the chairman of the board to account. The re-establishment of the board cannot give the Minister the opportunity to hide behind or push aside the HSE when it suits.

The HSE has been described as a growing monster. Most Members of the Oireachtas, including the Minister, get so frustrated with the lack of answers from the HSE and with its use of political speak that clarifies nothing. One often feels that one is banging one's head off a brick wall. In many cases, one only gets a response ten months after submitting a query.

The must be public competition when it comes to membership of the board. There must be patient advocates on the board. The board in its entirety must be committed to the full implementation of the Sláintecare report. Sinn Féin welcomes the key fundamental principles, as outlined by the Minister, of independence, inclusiveness and compassion. Many in the HSE are experiencing compassion fatigue. Indeed, I attended an event on mental health earlier today in Dublin 12 and the constant message from the workshop discussions was around compassion and the lack thereof.

We will be submitting amendments on Committee Stage and I look forward to working with the Minister to strengthen the Bill. I wish the new HSE board well and ask its members to ensure that all decisions are guided by the three fundamental principles of independence, inclusiveness and compassion.