MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney told the Dáil that there were "management changes" takiong place in the Health Service Executive (HSE).
She said that the HSE would continue to have nine national directors. "It is simply a question of reorganising what they do, and particularly of elevating the post of director of communications to directorate level,'' she added.
"All the directors will report to the CEO of the organisation [Prof Brendan Drumm] and will carry out the responsibilities delegated by the CEO." Ms Harney was replying to a series of special notice questions.
Earlier, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore called for a Government response to a report in The Irish Times relating to a change in the HSE management structure.
Ms Harney said she remained committed to a voluntary redundancy programme, "once we know what we want to do by way of numbers and what is required to do the job".
Fine Gael spokesman Dr James Reilly remarked: "Manana."
Ms Harney replied: "It is not. This State does not have a good history of redundancy programmes.
"Sometimes the best people go and then they come back as consultants. We want to ensure, before a redundancy programme is devised, that we put this organisational structure in place."
The Minister insisted that it was not possible to decide who should be made redundant before an organisation was established.
"Any merger would do that," said Dr Reilly. Ms Harney said that for Prof Drumm, or the board of the HSE, to decide who they would get rid of, before the organisation was established, would not have made any sense.
The Minister said that there would be no increase in "head count" under the management changes, adding that the contrary would be the case.
"At local level we want to consult stakeholders, particularly employees, on local arrangements and this will take some time," she added. "The intention is to recruit the directors at national level very quickly."
Ms Harney said that the changes would involve an increase in neither budget nor headcount and would not require legislation.
"Clearly, however, as Minister for Health, notwithstanding the operational nature of the HSE's remit, it is also my responsibility to ensure that appropriate management and governance exists within the HSE," said the Minister.
"This is the reason the department and I have been involved in the past 12 months in detailed discussions pertaining to the changes that now will be put into effect and which were communicated to the worker representatives through the unions this morning."
Labour spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan said it appeared that what had been proposed was a good deal more confusing than the existing structures.
Ms Harney said that regional structures existed at present.
"On the hospital side, there are eight network managers and, on the community and primary care side, four regional structures are in place.
"Implementation units probably are what are being envisaged under these proposals, whereby the two will be together."
Ms Harney said that the communications job was being elevated to director level because, as the Fitzgerald report highlighted, the HSE faced a major communications challenge.
Dr Reilly said that anybody in the HSE should be able to say what their job was, to whom they reported and who reported to them.
"If, as a result of these changes, the Minister can say those questions can be answered, she will have done a good day's work, but, unfortunately, I do not believe, from what the Minister has said, that will be the case," he added.
