Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 82: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children when the parliamentary affairs division was set up at the Health Service Executive; the cost at which it was set up; the number of staff employed within the division; the salaries of those employed within this division; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32129/05]

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 83: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the reason it was thought necessary to set up a parliamentary affairs division within the Health Service Executive; the issues, which will be her responsibility in terms of answers to parliamentary questions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32130/05]

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 84: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the time constraints that the parliamentary affairs division of the Health Service Executive observe; if these differ from the time constraints observed by Departments when parliamentary questions are put to them; if so the reason for same (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32131/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 to 84, inclusive, together.

Prior to the establishment of the Health Service Executive, parliamentary questions concerning access to services, by individuals or in specific geographic areas, were referred to the chief executive officer of the relevant health board or ERHA for direct reply.

Pursuant to the Health Act 2004, the functions of the health boards and ERHA were transferred to the HSE. Under the Act, the HSE has responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to have delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. The establishment of the HSE brought into being a new unitary system for the delivery and management of health services at local, regional and national level. The move to the new structure presented an opportunity for an improved service for providing information to Oireachtas Members. The parliamentary affairs division of the HSE, which was established last April, provides a central contact for all Oireachtas requests for information relating to matters within the statutory remit of the executive.

The Deputy's questions about the parliamentary affairs division regarding the number of staff, the set up costs, and the salaries paid, are operational matters, which are the responsibility of the HSE. Accordingly, the Department of Health and Children has requested the HSE to arrange to have the information compiled and a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

As Minister, I am responsible for the legislative and regulatory framework underpinning the delivery of health and personal social services, national policy issues including overall service, human resource and industrial relations, workforce planning, resource allocation, performance management and health service reform issues, and issues relating to the Department of Health and Children. Regarding my replies to parliamentary questions on such matters, where the information concerned is readily available in the Department of Health and Children, it is included in the answer given in the House. Otherwise, the reply advises that the information must be compiled and will be issued to the Deputy concerned as soon as possible after the answer date.

The HSE aims to operate within a timeframe of 20 working days from the date of answer of a parliamentary question for the issue of a final reply to a Deputy. This reflects the arrangements which the former health boards and ERHA had adopted prior to the HSE's establishment. It is a starting point and the HSE is committed to reducing this period as it develops its organisational and information capacity going forward. The Deputy will be aware that parliamentary questions can differ very substantially in the complexity of the subject matter or the extent of the detail sought. The HSE endeavours to provide more immediate responses in instances where the information sought in the question is of a routine nature or is readily available. The key purpose in establishing the HSE's parliamentary affairs division is to provide a strong mechanism, and specific resource, to address the information needs of Oireachtas Members in connection with the discharge by the HSE of its statutory responsibilities under the 2004 Act. The establishment of the division provides, for the first time, a systematic approach to monitoring and improving the performance of the health service delivery system in replying to information requests from Oireachtas Members.