The
Minister for Health and Children ( ) is the
senior
minister at the
Department
of Health and Children in the
Government of Ireland and is
responsible for
health care in the
Republic of Ireland and related services.
The current Minister for Health and Children is
Mary Harney,
TD. She is assisted by:
Health care formed part of the portfolio of the
Minister
for Local Government and Public Health until 22 January 1947.
On that date the new position of
Minister for
Health was created, with complete control over all policy
regarding health care provision in Ireland. In later years, the
health portfolio was occasionally coupled with that for social
welfare portfolio, in which case the incumbent was known as the
Minister for Health and Social Welfare.
In recent
years, and especially since the tenure of Michael Noonan in 1994–1997, being appointed
as minister has become somewhat of a "poisoned chalice" in
government circles and a portfolio to be avoided by aspiring
politicians, during his tenure Brian
Cowen famously referred to the Department of Health as
Angola
due the
fact that there were landmines everywhere. A number of
scandals, mostly due to
medical
negligence, have meant that the minister immediately becomes
identified with the scandal. For instance the
Hepatitis C scandal, the
withholding of baby organs without parental consent or knowledge,
the
Michael Neary saga in
Drogheda and other high profile medical scandals have dogged the
minister and department. Additionally the minister has to deal with
logistic issues not seen in other departments such as strikes,
shortages and queues which are all to familiar in clinics and
hospitals around the country.
Overview
The Minister's duties include the creation and assessment of policy
for the health services. The main policy sections of the
Department, together with their responsibilities, are:
Child Care
- Child care legislation
- National Children's Office
Continuing Care
- Services for homeless adults
- Services for people with disabilities
- Services for the elderly and palliative care
Finance
- Health insurance
- Hospital planning
- Public-Private Partnerships
Personnel Management and Development
- Nursing policy
- Personnel management and development
Primary Care
- Community health (child health, dental services, AIDS,
reproductive health)
- General medical services
Secondary Care
- Blood policy
- Hospital services
Strategic Policy and Corporate Services
- Corporate Services
- Health promotion
- Health Strategy Legislation
List of office-holders
The asterisk (*) indicates ministers who held the Health and Social
Welfare portfolios simultaneously.
Footnotes
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