Department of Health
Introduction
The Government, the Minister for Health and the Department of Health are at the head of the health service. The Department's main role is to support the Minister and Ministers of State in the development and implementation of policy for the health services. It also monitors the performance of health services.
Health services are delivered by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Organisation of the Department
The Minister for Health has overall constitutional and political responsibility for the Department.
There are 3 Ministers of State assigned to the Department with responsibility for:
- Disability
- Public health, wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy
- Mental health and older people
The administrative (Civil Service) head of the Department is the Secretary General. They are the "accounting officer". In other words, they are responsible to the Dáil for ensuring that the money allocated to the Department is spent in the proper manner.
The Chief Medical Officer advises the Minister, Ministers of State, and the Department on medical issues and is also responsible for patient safety and quality, clinical effectiveness, health protection and promotion, tobacco control policy, health and wellbeing, social inclusion and bioethics.
Read more about the Department of Health, including the organisation structure. There are a number of divisions within the Department that each have a different policy or administrative function. Each division includes a number of units with specific areas of responsibility.
Where to apply