Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and it is his script I am responding with. I thank Senator Mullen for raising the issue and giving me the opportunity to outline the position to the House.

The Department of Health's role is to provide strategic leadership for the health service and to ensure that Government policies are translated into actions and implemented effectively. This includes governance and performance oversight to ensure accountable and high-quality service. Any proposal to provide Exchequer funding would require detailed consideration of the service need and potential costs and the decision would then be subject to public procurement rules. Any organisation funded from the Exchequer is required to conform to the Government principles as outlined in the service arrangement and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 13/2014, Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds. This circular outlines the public financial management principles, procedures and additional reporting requirements to be followed in the management of grant funding provided from public money, as well as the reclassification of grants and grant-in-aid.

The overall principle is that there should be transparency and accountability in the management of public money, in line with economy, efficiency and effectiveness. In general, good governance is central to how State agencies direct and control their functions and relate to their stakeholders to manage their business, achieve their mission and objectives and meet the necessary standards of accountability, integrity and propriety. All bodies that fall under the Department must comply in full with the code of practice for governance of State bodies.

In relation to HSE-funded services, sections 38 and 39 of the Health Act 2004, as amended, provide for the HSE to contract with a non-statutory body to provide health and other allied services on its behalf. As part of a HSE-wide initiative to improve governance arrangements for the funding of non-statutory agencies, a national compliance framework has been developed to ensure a consistent approach.

Where the annual funding allocated for the contracted service is less than €250,000, the oversight and governance arrangements are defined via a grant aid arrangement. Where the annual funding allocated for the contracted service exceeds €250,000, the oversight and governance arrangements for the contracted services are defined via a service level agreement signed between the HSE and the voluntary agency. The provider is required to provide an annual report to the HSE in respect of the service no later than 30 September each year.

For all section 38 funding arrangements, as well as those section 39 funding arrangements in excess of €3 million in annual funding, an annual compliance statement is required to be submitted to the HSE compliance unit by the agency, which relates to compliance with corporate governance requirements for the prior year. Within the HSE, the non-statutory sector compliance unit evaluates the annual compliance statements received from the section 38 and section 39 agencies that are required to submit such a compliance statement and the compliance documentation and guidance are reviewed and updated annually, as required.