Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 350: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when he will move to a system of directly answering parliamentary questions currently referred to service providers for answers. [7611/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government contains a number of commitments about improving the way parliamentary questions, adjournment debates, etc. are dealt with. I expect that these initiatives will be progressed across all Government Departments in due course.

However, I have already made a change in the arrangements for responding to parliamentary questions by the Health Service Executive. I have decided that parliamentary questions about operational issues of a national nature will now be answered by me, as Minister. Whenever possible these questions will be answered on the relevant Dáil day. Where this is not possible, because the information is not readily available, I will issue a reply as soon as possible thereafter.

Questions about individual patients, such as individual applications for medical cards, and about local service issues, such as individual hospitals or local organisations, will continue to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to Deputies. I have already asked my Department to liaise with the HSE about how best to improve the HSE response times for such questions.