Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 170: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the date when she or the Minister of State with responsibility for Children first received the Health Service Executive review report on its child and family services for 2005; the reason the report only first appeared in full on the HSE website at the end of February; the reason it has not to date been published in book form; and if it will be so published. [16197/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Under Section 8 of the 1991 Children Act, the HSE is obliged to prepare an annual report on the adequacy of the Child Care and Family Support Services and submit a copy to the Minister for Health and Children. The first year in which the HSE had responsibility for preparing the Section 8 Report was 2005, the report having previously been prepared by individual Health Boards.

A working group was established by the HSE in October 2005 to develop a national template for the HSE Section 8 Report. This template was finalised in April 2006, and the 2005 Report was subsequently produced and submitted to the Office of the Minister for Children on 11 June 2007.

Matters relating to the subsequent scheduling and manner of the publication of the report are proper to the HSE. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.