Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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173. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which he has put in place measures to address issues arising in the delivery of services in the context of Covid-19; if adequate resources remain available to address in full any issues arising having regard to the experience to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33483/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented interruption to normal healthcare activity.

Resuming health and social care services and building the health sector capacity and capability for the pressures of Winter 2020 and into 2021 is a priority for the Government.

The Government introduced Level 5 public health restrictive measures to enable a significant suppression of the virus to very low levels of transmission in advance of the winter months. These measures have been introduced to limit the impact on public health while protecting the three core priorities of:

1. Preventing unnecessary disruption to non-COVID health and social care services particularly given the impact on those services in the first half of 2020

2. Protecting medically and socially vulnerable people and

3. Proactively protecting against and averting significant disruption to childcare and education.

It is important to recognise that many vital services have continued throughout the pandemic, ensuring that priority care needs were addressed and the most vulnerable protected even at the height of this crisis.

The HSE published its Strategic Framework for Delivery of Service Continuity in a COVID Environment (June 2020). This ensures that services are restored in a prioritised manner and ensures a safer environment for patients and service users.

The HSE have developed a plan (‘Delivering Health Services in a COVID-19 Pandemic’). This plan includes the normal winter plan that would incorporate enhancement to services to cope with winter pressures, but also takes a more strategic approach by considering actions necessary to resume services and building capacity such that the system can deal with expected demand and pressures to the end of 2020/21.

The plan, and the associated investment required, were considered as part of the Estimates process which concluded with the Government announcing significant additional funding of over €4 billion to the HSE in Budget 2021 which is the largest health increase in the history of the State.

Following the formal notification to the HSE on its financial allocation for 2021, the HSE will produce its National Service Plan for 2021 which will set out the level the type and volume of services that it will provide for the funding allocated.