Written Answers Nos. 1003-1016
1004. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when the Department last published a full variance analysis of actual public nursing home costs against NHSS ceilings, as recommended in the value for money review; and to provide the most recent data. [9307/26]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1008. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health which recommendations from the independent review examining the role of voluntary organisations in publicly funded health and social care, published in 2019, have been implemented to date; and to provide timelines for those outstanding.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9311/26]
View answer1010. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has established the formal partnership model with voluntary providers promised in the 2019 review; and if not, the reason that commitment has not been honoured. [9313/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1008 and 1010 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Report of the Independent Review Group (IRG) established to examine the role of voluntary organisations in publicly funded health and social services, published in February 2019, highlighted the important contribution that voluntary organisations have made and continue to make in the delivery of health and social care services across Ireland.
The IRG Report made a range of recommendations covering areas such as the governance of voluntary organisations; dialogue, engagement and contractual processes between the State and the voluntary sector; ethos, asset ownership and public capital investment, and broader issues related to health system development. These recommendations were relevant to a range of actors, including the Department of Health, the HSE, other State Agencies and voluntary organisations themselves.
The key finding in the IRG Report was the need to strengthen the relationship between the State and the voluntary sector. To this end, the then Minister for Health’s key response to the report at the time was the establishment in December 2019 of a Dialogue Forum with Voluntary Organisations as recommended in the Report as a key mechanism for strengthening this relationship. The aim of the Forum is to build a stronger working relationship between the State and the voluntary healthcare sector for the benefit of patients and service users and to facilitate regular dialogue with the voluntary sector on future policy and strategic developments.
The Forum, which meets regularly, has undertaken a series of collaborative projects, each underpinned by a partnership approach, including the following:
• The Forum undertook a Case Study project to build a shared understanding of the key challenges and opportunities arising with regard to improving the relationship between the State and the voluntary sector (dialogue-forum-case-study-process-final-report.pdf).
• The Forum commissioned NESC to explore the collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic which it found was underpinned by significant collaboration between the statutory and voluntary sectors (nesc-secretariat-paper-building-a-new-relationship-between-voluntary-organisations-and.pdf).
• In 2023 the Forum published a set of Partnership Principles: Building A New Relationship between Voluntary Organisations and the State in the Health and Social Care Sectors (partnership-principles-building-a-new-relationship-between-voluntary-organisations-and.pdf).
• A collaborative project was undertaken to review the HSE’s Service Arrangements and Grant Aid Agreements resulting in the streamlining of the Service Arrangement document (this was a specific recommendation in the IRG report).
• Voluntary organisations have been directly involved in the transition to Health Regions within the HSE, including as members of the Health Regions Steering Group, reflecting the important role that they play in service delivery in our hybrid and interdependent health system. Work is underway to establish a Regional Voluntary Forum in each HSE Health Region which will further strengthen collaboration and partnership with the sector.
• In 2024 and 2025 the HSE has held a Joint HSE and Voluntary & Community Planning Day which further supports collaboration in the area of service planning.
Full details of the Forum’s membership, terms of reference and work can be found here - www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/publications/dialogue-forum-with-voluntary-organisations/.
1009. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason no multi-annual funding framework has been introduced for voluntary healthcare providers despite explicit recommendations; and whether she accepts that this undermines workforce planning and financial sustainability. [9312/26]
View answerThe State’s health budget is currently voted annually by the Oireachtas. Accordingly, the Department of Health and the HSE issue service arrangements, including with voluntary providers, on an annual basis. This reflects the legal requirement that expenditure be authorised each year by the Oireachtas.
In accordance with the Programme for Government commitment, work is underway to introduce a multi-annual funding approach from Budget 2027, providing indicative multi-year ceilings aligned with the Government’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, in order to support better medium-term planning and sustainable, evidence-based budgeting.
Any multi-annual framework must align with recent health reforms, particularly the devolution of decision-making to the HSE Health Regions and the shift from hospital to community care. Guaranteeing multi-year budgets for individual hospitals would undermine regional autonomy and integrated planning under Sláintecare.
While recommendations have been made in relation to adopting multi-annual budgeting in the health sector, there have been no explicit recommendations for a dedicated multi-annual funding framework specifically for voluntary hospitals.
The absence of provider-specific multi-year guarantees does not undermine workforce or financial planning. These are being strengthened through multi-year workforce strategies, regional budgeting, tighter financial controls, and productivity measures.
The Department will continue to progress a prudent multi-annual funding approach at Health Vote level, while embedding regional autonomy and modern funding models that support high-quality, sustainable services across hospitals and community care.
1011. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has quantified the administrative and compliance burden imposed on voluntary nursing homes in recent years; whether any funding has been provided to offset these additional requirements. [9314/26]
View answer1012. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that increasing reporting, compliance and governance obligations have not been matched by increased frontline funding for voluntary providers. [9315/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
