More than 10 per cent of parliamentary questions referred by Minister for Health Mary Harney to the Health Service Executive (HSE) in the first six months of the year remain unanswered, it has emerged.
Ms Harney told the Dáil that in the period from January to June this year, 3,836 parliamentary questions were tabled to her department. She said that of these, 2,222 were referred to the HSE as they related to matters which came under its statutory remit.
Ms Harney told independent TD Michael Lowry that 232 questions, or more than 10 per cent of the total referred, had still to be answered. Replies had been issued by the HSE to 1,990 parliamentary questions.
Mr Lowry submitted nine parliamentary questions during the period which the HSE has not yet answered.
"The executive endeavours to issue final replies to questions within 20 working days. I have been informed that for the period concerned, 1,200 replies were issued within this timeframe. The reasons for a delay in replying to questions may vary," she said.
"For instance, questions can differ substantially in relation to the extent of the detail sought either in relation to a national service or in relation to a service over a period of years.
"In some cases, the preparation of replies may involve decisions of a wider nature such as determining service priorities or resource allocation," Ms Harney said.
There has been widespread concern among TDs in Leinster House at difficulties in securing answers to parliamentary questions on the health service in recent years.
Under the health board system, questions relating to health matters, including those affecting the boards directly, were generally answered by the Minister in the Dáil.
However, following the establishment of the HSE two years ago, Ms Harney routinely began referring questions which related to operational issues to the HSE itself. TDs subsequently experienced lengthy delays in securing answers to questions.
The new system also meant that answers to parliamentary questions were sent directly to TDs and were never placed on the Oireachtas record.
HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm told the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children last month that the provision of members of the House with "timely, accurate and easily accessible information on the HSE and its services continues to be a priority issue for me".
He said that arrangements were being finalised to hold briefings for local Oireachtas members in each HSE administrative area.
"These area briefings will, I hope, ensure that Oireachtas members are well briefed on matters related to health and personal social services within that geographic area, and have an opportunity to meet the relevant service managers on a two-monthly basis," he said.
Prof Drumm also said that plans were under way to have answers to parliamentary questions placed on the HSE website. He said that design work for this arrangement was almost complete.
