Results 2,461-2,480 of 12,010 for speaker:Mary Butler

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Transfers (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Butler: First of all, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to those that were injured in this tragic event, and to their families, and wish them for a full recovery. I would also like to express my thanks to all who came to the victims' assistance. I fully realise the effect that this event must have had on those who witnessed this horrific tragedy. The HSE have advised that HSE Community...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Butler: The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Act 2021 was signed into law by President Higgins on 22 July 2021 and became fully operational from 20 October the same year. The goal of this amendment is to assist in protecting the viability and sustainability of family farms and family-run businesses.A condition of receiving the financial relief offered under the Act is that a family successor...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (30 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Service Executive (30 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (30 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for his contribution and for his proposed amendment. I must, however, reject the amendment. I will outline the reasons for this rejection. Section 7F of the Health Insurance Act 1994 provides that if a beneficiary of the risk equalisation scheme makes more than a reasonable profit, the excess will be returned to the risk equalisation fund. This legislation was...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: Currently, 46.8% of the population holds private health insurance. This amounts to 2.48 million people and represents a total annual premium income of approximately €3.18 billion. Health insurance is provided according to four principles: open enrolment, lifetime cover, minimum benefit and community rating. The risk equalisation scheme is the mechanism designed to support the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Health Services Staff (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: Notwithstanding the fact that, over the past three years, there are more than 20,000 new whole-time equivalents working in the HSE, there are recruitment challenges across several sectors. It is posing a particular challenge for the public health nurse service. There is a considerable nursing vacancy rate across west Dublin. When the recruitment freeze was announced, any posts that had...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Health Services Staff (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank Deputy Kenny for his important question. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As we are all aware, the public health nursing service plays an incredibly valuable role in the provision of an extensive range of front-line community services encompassing health promotion, disease prevention, screening and the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: I will come in there, if the Deputy does not mind. That €3.2 billion is a huge spend, as the Deputy said. It is a huge proportion of our budget. We have 1.6 million people with medical cards and 185,000 discretionary cards, so 1.8 million people have medical cards. A huge proportion of those are older people who would depend very much on their medical card for drugs. That also...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: Can I clarify that? Is the Chair saying that when a person is going for a colonoscopy - obviously he or she has to have that preparation - that preparation is not covered by the medical card and they must pay €25 for it?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: We will certainly look into that.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for the question and his interest. He is right that there are a lot of challenges with CAMHS, but a lot of good work is happening too. Out of all people hired by the HSE, there are 10,500 whole time equivalents working in mental health services. Regarding CAMHS specifically, 820 whole-time equivalents are working in CAMHS across 75 teams the length and breadth of the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Butler: We have successfully managed to recruit consultant psychiatrists in other parts of the country. There have been challenges in the Kerry area for quite a while. We have two pieces of good news. For the first time in the history of the State, we have a youth mental health office. Mr. Donan Kelly is the lead and he took up his post on 1 September. I met him last week. In addition, for...