Health Minister: Simon Harris TD
At just 29 years old, new Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, has been handed probably the most complex Cabinet portfolio, but his influence and potential impact on the sector could be hampered by the political instability that engulfs a minority government.
Age has not been a limiting factor for the Fine Gael TD who wasted no time following his election in 2011, as the then youngest member of the Dáil, in building his reputation as an assured and loyal party member.
Elected for the Wicklow Dáil constituency, previously his most senior position in government was as Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and the Taoiseach, with a special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) public procurement and international banking, rather than a health portfolio.
Other positions in which he operated include as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Secretary of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and Co-Convenor of the Oireachtas Cross Party Group on Mental Health.
Faced with many of the omnipresent issues in health, including increasing waiting lists, a predicted overrun of the HSE budget and the impacts of an ageing population, Harris also faces a number of significant challenges in relation to expensive treatment drugs, delivering primary care and implementing a 10-year strategy.
It has not been lost on those in opposition that many of the health pledges made by Fine Gael under the previous health portfolio such as free GP care, universal health insurance and a reduction in the hospital bed shortfall have not been met.
That Harris has chosen an all-party Oireachtas Committee to review the strategy, his first act as Minister, has also promoted scepticism as to whether a consensus can be reached.
Speaking about the decision, he emphasised the need to move away from previous protocol: “The public and the people who work so hard in our health service have no lack of appetite for reform, but they are certainly fatigued by piecemeal reforms that don’t really change anything and by the shifting priorities that come with political change.
“The work of this committee can mean that the public and those working in the service can have a sense of certainty that there is a long-term strategy agreed by political consensus, and hopefully, societal consensus, that will not change no matter what the makeup of the next Dáil.”
Implementing change will be eased, only slightly, by the announcement of Ireland’s largest ever health budget, totalling some €14.6 billion. The improved funding has paved the way for the Health Minister to deliver on one of his initial pledges in office, making medical cards automatically available for children in receipt of the Domiciliary Care Allowance.
“I am delighted that Budget 2017 will deliver the largest health budget ever at €14.6 billion as this is much needed investment. This budget increase demonstrates the Government’s commitment to investing the gains from a recovering economy in a better health service. Within these increased resources we can plan for the challenge of increased demand from a growing and ageing population, and begin some significant new developments which will over time deliver real improvements for patients on waiting lists, children with disabilities and older people,” he says.
Growth
An emergence from recession has created a public sector pay dispute. The success of An Garda Síochána in pushing the Government for improved pay has brought other members of the public sector to the table. Harris has been adamant in the media that no further money, other than that allocated in the budget, is available. This is likely to cause friction between the Government and the 100,000 staff employed under the umbrella of the health sector.
He has already proven an ability to be decisive, exemplified by his decision to reject calls to relocate the site of the contentious national children’s hospital and a move to cut the price of drugs in the absence of agreement between the State and pharmaceutical companies.
However, it remains to be seen how effective Harris can be given his budgetary and time restraints. Those who have met with him on some of his initial visits to hospitals across the country have warmed to him, and his ambitions have been well set out, however, previous ministers with vaster experience have come unstuck in the health post during less precarious times. A move away from austerity demands improvement and investment in the sector, however, the diffusion of power wielded across the minority Government will require political nous and forward thinking.
