Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 67: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that parliamentary questions referred by her to the HSE are often not replied to for several weeks and that some replies have been outstanding for several months; her views on whether this demonstrates an erosion of accountability since the health boards were abolished; her further views on the fact that these replies do not appear in the public record; the steps she intends to take to ensure that questions are replied to by her office and in a reliable and timely manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17659/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The HSE, established on 1 January 2005, is the national body with statutory responsibility for the delivery and management of health and personal social services. Accordingly, matters raised in parliamentary questions which relate to local or individual cases are referred to the executive for reply to the Deputy concerned. This is essentially a continuation of the practice which was followed, prior to the creation of the executive, when such matters were referred to the individual health boards. Similarly, questions which previously required information from each former health board to be collected and collated can now be more directly arranged by the executive.

Since the executive's establishment, the chief officers in each of its administrative areas have continued to deal with parliamentary questions in accordance with the arrangements which previously operated under the health boards. Essentially, the arrangements made to date were calculated to avoid any erosion in the accountability arising under the parliamentary question system since the health boards were abolished. The establishment of the executive should be grasped as an opportunity for an improved service for providing information to members of the Oireachtas, on a proactive basis as well as where it is specifically sought.

The executive recently established a parliamentary affairs division to act as a central contact for all Oireachtas requests relating to matters within its statutory remit. A key function of the division is to monitor, throughout the executive's national directorates and administrative areas, the timeliness of replies and to follow up immediately where a reply has not issued within 20 working days of receipt of the referral. However, if the Deputy wishes to supply details to my office of particular cases where he has experienced difficulties in obtaining a timely reply, my Department will pursue these immediately with the executive's parliamentary affairs division.

The Health Act 2004 introduced transparency and accountability arrangements for the management and delivery of health and personal social services. These measures relate to publication by the executive of a three year corporate plan, an annual service plan, a code of governance and an annual report. There is also provision in the Act whereby the executive's chief executive officer shall, at the written request of an Oireachtas committee, attend before it to give an account of the general administration of the executive. Members of the executive have already attended the Joint Committee on Health and Children and the Committee of Public Accounts.

I am keen to ensure that the executive provides a high quality service to Members of the Oireachtas and I will be making regulations under section 79 of the Act on the conduct by the executive of its dealings with Members of either House of the Oireachtas. My Department is also working with the executive on the finalisation and early implementation of arrangements to further enhance the capabilities of the executive to provide an information service to Oireachtas Members.