Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will make a statement on the Health Service Executive's 2008 service plan. [2205/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Under Section 31 of the Health Act, 2004 the Health Service Executive must prepare and submit its annual National Service Plan for the coming year to the Minister for approval. The National Service Plan (NSP) must indicate the type and volume of health and personal social services to be provided by the Health Service Executive for the financial resources provided in its Vote. The format and content of the NSP has been improved and refined over the last number of years. A great deal of effort was deployed to the development and synthesis of the NSP 2008 by the HSE and I would like to express my public appreciation for the hard work of all the HSE officials concerned.

The NSP is focussed on providing quantifiable data for planned service outputs for the inputs/resources being used and the progress of the Plan through the year is monitored by way of detailed monthly and quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports submitted by the HSE to the Department. The quarterly reports in particular detail progress on all actions/deliverables that are included in the NSP. The NSP also embeds more than 30 selected indicators/measures that can be used to assess the performance of the HSE in relation to the NSP.

High level quarterly service plan meetings are held between Department and HSE management teams to discuss progress on the implementation of the NSP and to raise and resolve significant issues. In addition to these formal arrangements, there is ongoing contact and dialogue between the various sections in the Department and the relevant directorates in the HSE.

The NSP for 2008 was submitted on 19th November, 2007. In accordance with the Health Act, I approved the Plan on 10 December, 2007. In my letter of approval to the HSE, I requested the Board of the HSE to pay particular attention in 2008 to the absolute necessity for the HSE to operate within the limits of its Voted allocation in delivering, at minimum, the levels of service activity specified in the 2008 Service Plan. Clearly, this means that the Voted allocations, approved employment levels and service activities — both within the HSE itself and in HSE funded agencies such as the major voluntary hospitals — all need to be planned and actively and prudently managed from the very start of the year.

I do not propose to go into any of the details of the Service Plan here as it was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 20 December 2007 and, accordingly, is readily available to all Deputies.

Considerable additional funds, over and above those provided in the Estimates, are being made available to the HSE in 2008 as a result of the December Budget Day announcements. These additional funds are being provided for the further development of specific nominated additional services in 2008. At my request, the HSE has provided me with an Addendum to the National Service Plan setting out how the Executive intends to fund and to deliver these additional services and service enhancements in 2008. That addendum is under consideration within my Department at present.