John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 244: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 479 and 480 of 16 September 2009 and Parliamentary Question No. 284 of 2 February 2010 when replies will issue regarding the information sought; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9107/10]

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that it takes more than one Parliamentary Question to receive answers to questions tabled to her Department; her views on the delays in providing this information; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9227/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 244 and 256 together.

Responding to the information needs of the Oireachtas and the public is a priority for my Department and is a regular agenda item at meetings between myself and the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Service Executive.

The operation of the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the HSE (PAD) allows for the centralised receipt, assignment and tracking of Parliamentary Questions within the HSE's extensive network of operations. More generally, PAD monitors overall performance in relation to the timely issue of replies and provides a central contact for all requests from Oireachtas members for information relating to matters within the statutory remit of the Executive. It reports on a regular basis to the Chief Executive Officer and his management team.

In 2008, a timeframe of 15 working days for replies was introduced for Parliamentary Questions referred to the Executive for direct reply. In 2009 approximately 62% of questions referred to the Executive were answered within the 15 day timeframe. I will continue to stress the importance of meeting the 15 day timeframe at my regular meetings with the CEO of the HSE.

The Deputy tabled two questions on 16th September 2009 which were referred to the HSE Parliamentary Affairs Division for direct reply. The numbers of these questions were 31305/09 and 31306/09 and the information sought related to a particular HSE region. Due to a clerical error the information supplied to the Deputy was incomplete. The error was brought to the HSE's attention and mine by the Deputy's further question, tabled on 2nd February 2010 and numbered 4587/10, on foot of which I asked the HSE to investigate the circumstances of the mistake and report on the matter to my Department. I have since been informed that the HSE have been in direct contact with the Deputy to apologise for the mistake, to supply most of the information sought and to assure the Deputy that the remaining outstanding information will be forwarded within the next two weeks.