Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 101: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if, in relation to the Freedom of Information legislation, the Health Service Executive has a section 16 manual that has been updated in the past three years; the way in which to access this manual; if it is not available the reason therefor; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8476/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Freedom of Information Act 1997 requires each public body to publish the rules and procedures relating to enactments and schemes administered by the body in respect of services to which the public may be entitled. The Health Act 2004 established the Health Service Executive as a public body under the FOIA and required the executive to meet this requirement by 1 June 2005. Compliance with this statutory requirement is a matter for that body.

The thrust of this provision of the FOIA is to ensure that individuals are not deprived of a service by reason only of the application of a rule or requirement of which they were unaware. There is an onus on the executive to ensure that any deficiencies in the guidance published under section 16 do not lead to unfairness in the administration of services.

Electronic publication is expressly permitted under the Act. Prior to 2005, each health board published material under this section of the FOIA. Bodies such as the Health Service Employers' Agency which were incorporated into the executive published similar material on their websites.

The Health Service Executive has yet to publish a document or digest under this provision of the Act. As the Health Service Executive is a public body in its own right under the Act, the Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to address this matter and respond directly to the Deputy.