Department of Health and Children (Ireland)



The Department of Health & Children (An Roinn Sláinte agus Leanaí) is a government department of the Irish government. The Department's mission is to "support, protect and empower individuals, families and their communities to achieve their full health potential by putting health at the centre of public policy and by leading the development of high quality, equitable and efficient health and personal social services."

The Department is led by the Minister for Health & Children who is assisted by three Ministers of State.

Departmental Team
The official headquarters and Ministerial offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs are in Hawkins House, Hawkins Street, Dublin 2. The Departmental team consists of the following:


 * Minister for Health & Children: Mary Harney, TD
 * Minister of State for Children: Brendan Smith, TD
 * Minister of State for Older People: Máire Hoctor, TD
 * Minister of State for Disability Issues and Mental Health: Jimmy Devins, TD


 * Secretary-General of the Department: Michael Scanlan


 * Chief Medical Officer: Dr James Kiely MD

History
The Department of Health was created in 1947 with James Ryan as the first Minister. Prior to this the Department for Local Government & Public Health looked after Health issues. Over the years the Department's name has changed several times, however, the role of the Department has remained the same. The Department was previously known as the following:
 * Department of Health (1947–1997)
 * Department of Health & Children (1997–present)

Structure
The role of the Department and Departmental team is to support the Minister and the democratic process by:


 * Formulating policy underpinned by an evidence-based approach and providing direction on national health priorities ensuring that quality and value for money are enhanced through the implementation of an evidence-based approach underpinned by monitoring and evaluation.
 * Protecting the interests of patients and consumers and supporting practitioners and professionals to practice to the highest standards by providing a prudent and appropriate regulatory framework.
 * Providing effective stewardship over health resources by demanding accountability for achieving outcomes including financial, managerial and clinical accountability, and by providing the frameworks, including enhanced service planning at national level to improve the overall governance of the health system.
 * Fulfilling the state's obligations in relation to the EU, WHO, Council of Europe and other international bodies and the continued implementation of the co-operation agenda decided by the North-South Ministerial Council.