Politicians won’t be dropped from health agencies, says Martin
Consultants hired to audit the health service had recommended politicians be removed from the bodies and replaced by medical and patient representatives.
However, Dáil deputies and councillors are opposed to this move, claiming the people's interests would not be represented by professionals.
Politicians would also lose out on expenses they claim for attending health board meetings.
"I would not be happy to just get rid of politicians and put in medical representatives politicians are not the problem," Mr Martin said.
Managing services on the ground must be the priority rather than who sits on boards, Mr Martin said.
However, overall representation will needs to be cut, he said.
"There is no way a body like the Eastern Regional Health Authority (EHRA) needs 52 members," the minister said.
At the moment, Mr Martin and the Department of Health have executive responsibility for the management of the health services.
"I am like a firefighter and general manager for every hospital around the country when there is a crisis," the minister said.
He wants responsibility for acute and non-acute services to rest with the two proposed agencies the National Hospital Agency and National Health Service Executive.
Mr Martin also wants to extend the cover hospital consultants give patients to 24 hours every day.
"I want to extend the level of cover so that if someone goes into hospital at 2am a senior consultant will be on hand to make a decision about their condition," he said.
An EU directive reducing the number of hours junior doctors work to 48 a week means more consultants will have to be recruited.
But the minister refused to comment on claims that the Task Force on Medical Manpower is recommending six maternity and A&E departments be closed as a trade-off to finance the recruitment of 1,200 consultants.
