David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1722. To ask the Minister for Health the full range of corporate governance responsibilities including but not inclusive of recruitment, finance, and procurement regional health areas will have once established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30111/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1723. To ask the Minister for Health the full range of corporate governance responsibilities including but not inclusive of recruitment, finance, and procurement the HSE centre will retain once regional health areas are established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30112/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1724. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE centre will have a board once the regional health areas are established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30113/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1725. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE centre will be a legal entity once the regional health areas are established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30114/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1745. To ask the Minister for Health the model of regional health areas that were signed off by Cabinet; the timeframe for establishing and operationalising same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30165/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1746. To ask the Minister for Health if regional health areas will have a board once established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30166/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1747. To ask the Minister for Health if regional health areas will be legal entities once established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30167/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1748. To ask the Minister for Health the details of the proposed management structure for regional health areas; the plans to integrate local hospital and CHO management layers; if this will result in a single management layer for acute and community services at local level; the way that this will be geographically managed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30168/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1749. To ask the Minister for Health if regional health areas will be the employer of staff in their geographical area of responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30169/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1722 to 1725, inclusive, and 1745 to 1749, inclusive, together.

The Department of Health (DOH) is actively progressing the implementation of RHAs in partnership with the HSE, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Regional Health Areas (RHAs) will provide for the alignment and integration of hospital and community healthcare services at a regional level, based on defined populations and their local needs. This is key to delivering on the Sláintecare vision.

A Government Decision on RHA Implementation was approved on 5 April. This will provide policy direction and a clear mandate for the work programme. Concurrent with this a Business Case detailing the selection process for this policy direction was published and is available here: www.gov.ie/en/publication/4eda4-slaintecare-regional-health-areas-rhas/.

The recommended policy option is one in which the six new RHAs are implemented as separate branches of the HSE. RHAs will be set up internally as formal regional structures within the HSE to ensure national policies can be implemented consistently and disruption to the system will be minimised as we make this transition. This is in line with core Sláintecare principles.

In keeping with lessons learned from previous health system reforms, the option approved by Government balances the need for national consistency with more regional autonomy and associated accountability closer to the frontline.

While this option does not see RHAs established as separate legal entities, RHAs will have their own budgets with the power to determine their own hiring needs. While they will operate within a national policy context, this plan seeks to devolve decision making to RHAs and their leadership teams as much as possible.

The HSE is already a legal entity with a Board under the 2004 Health Act and it is not envisioned that this will change with the introduction of RHAs.

As we seek to better integrate acute and community based care, listening to health and social care system staff will be key. I established an independent RHA Advisory Group of patient and staff representatives from across the health and social care sector. This Advisory Group will provide guidance, support, and advice on the design of an implementation plan for RHAs to the Department of Health and HSE officials charged with implementing this work programme under Sláintecare. In addition to this group, a number of engagements with stakeholders have taken place over the past several months. More health and social care sector engagements are planned over the summer months.

All of the insights gained from these engagements will inform the overall design of RHAs. My Department is drafting a detailed implementation plan in partnership with the HSE and other key stakeholders which will cover how RHAs will impact finance, clinical and corporate governance and accountability, digital and capital infrastructure, workforce & HR and change, communications & culture. The implementation plan will set out the key objectives, actions, and deliverables for the successful implementation of RHAs. The implementation plan is currently in draft and will be finalised by the end of the year.

The high level timeframe for the establishment of RHAs is as follows:

- A detailed implementation plan will be developed in partnership with stakeholders in 2022. Implementation work will be taking place in tandem in some instances.

- A shadow budget using population-based resource allocation will be developed in 2022.

- Corporate and clinical governance frameworks will be developed and finalised in 2022.

- Transition to RHAs will begin in 2023.

- A population-based resource allocation funding model will be used as part of Estimates 2024 to allocate funding by RHA.

- By Q1 2024, the expectation is that RHAs will be fully operational.