Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think a number of us have been concerned for a while that we do not get what the Minister himself used to call blue-chip information when it comes to the financial management information that we get from the Department of Health and Social Services. From his explanation, I am afraid that we are not seeing an awful lot of this money going into a revision of the financial information systems. I think that is something that we have seen as being fairly weak in the department for a while. Can the Minister tell us what is planned in order to upgrade the financial information systems in the department?

The Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are going to do a number of things. We have moved to a standard chart of accounts. We are going to make sure that we move with the boards to a common financial system among the boards. We want to come up with common reporting information requirements. Those are the key areas that we want to look at. Of course, we are going to better synchronize the business planning process between the department and the health boards, so that the information is not only there but that it is properly sequenced and that it can be put to use at the appropriate time, both by the boards and by the departments. Thank you.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What time line are we looking at for institution of the new financial systems and how much is it going to cost to implement?

The Minister of Health.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The target date is April 1st of next year. The cost is projected at...

-- Interjection

We have not determined the final cost yet. Thank you.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am surprised that the Minister cannot give us at least an order of magnitude. I had expected that it was going to be fairly expensive and I was looking forward to having some indication of what it was going to cost.

There is another line here called population health. I note that in fact, there has been a decrease in the amount that we are spending, from $1.8 million to $1.7 million, so a decrease of just over $100,000. Given the Minister's comments the past couple of days about the importance of moving from treatment to prevention and the importance that I know he places on population health measures, why are we not seeing a dramatic increase in population health spending?

The Minister of Health, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am planning, and I think we are planning as a department and as a system, to be moving aggressively on this. As we look at the implementation of the action plan and as we start the planning for the upcoming budget cycle, that it is an area of significant concern. We talked about it in this House as a sustainability issue. I agree that it is one that we have to be putting more resources into. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, what we are in a broad sense moving towards is the goal of a comprehensive human resource strategy that will address the human resource requirements for the whole health and social services system. A key component of that is the Recruitment and Retention Program.

As it was initially designed, it applied to doctors and nurses where we came up with the idea of temporary supplements for the nurses. Very clearly it has been determined that there are impacts to that which are system-wide in terms of the way it is perceived, the optics, the determination of value that other professions may have by not being given the same kind of monetary consideration.

The boards have identified this along with the department as our number one priority. The joint senior management committee is looking at this, which comprises of the board CEOs and the senior management of the department. They are reviewing this particular area along with the overall comprehensive human resource strategy.

We are also anticipating that the issue of supplements will be dealt with through the collective bargaining process as the UNW and the bargaining unit brings it forward as an issue that they want to see addressed as well in the processes that they have available to themselves.

We are taking the steps to put this plan in place. We already have a system that is operational but we recognize that it needs to be better coordinated and it has to be more comprehensive and that is what we intend to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two points I would like to make. One is that this is going to be a collective bargaining issue and there is collective bargaining currently underway. There is a process in place to deal with that particular issue.

I would also like to assure my colleague that this comprehensive human resource strategy that we are developing will be done and it will pull together all of these issues. It is not something that is just an abstract concept. This is a complicated system with a $200 million budget, over 1200 employees and a host of different occupations and professions.

Like the rest of government, as the Grant Thornton report pointed out, we need to have a comprehensive human resource strategy and we are developing that. It is not something that I do in the privacy of my office by myself. It is an undertaking that is going to require all parts of the system to come together and to pull together the information and the plans necessary in conjunction with the corporate human resources of the government as well as FMBS with their expertise.

This is a very serious undertaking. It will be done. I hope that when we do get it done and we put it on the table and we involve the MLAs, then we will be in a position to have the type of debate we need to make sure we have done the work that is required. It will be done and there will be an opportunity for that kind of feedback. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as the health and social services system, we recognize the need to have a competitive, fair and equitable compensation package for all of our employees.

As we move ahead, that is the goal we are striving to maintain or achieve. We are taking the steps through the various options open to us, the collective bargaining process plus our own planning processes that I have already referred to to ensure that all employees, all professions are given that fair and just compensation and that it is consistent and reflective of the high value that we place upon the services that are being provided. Thank you.

General comments. We are on page 6-15. Grants and contributions. Mr. Bell.