Results 5,221-5,240 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Both Deputies, but Deputy Ó Cuív in particular, know very well that this cannot happen. The Supreme Court has been very clear on several occasions, including a couple of years ago in respect of industrial relations legislation, that the Oireachtas is supreme in terms of making legislation. I am sure all members of the sub-committee are aware of that. I can only wonder, therefore,...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: There is a danger of a slight misinterpretation of what we are talking about. Arguably the most important sections in the Bill - certainly the sections that people have been most concerned with or focused on - are sections 7, 8 and 9, which are the substantive sections. What they do, simply - I should not say "simply", as there is nothing simple about it - is to allow for procedures to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Price of Medicines (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The HSE has completed the consideration of the pricing and reimbursement application for Pirfenidone (Esbriet). The pricing and reimbursement application and associated commercially confidential offer made by Intermune has been accepted. The HSE has been in contact with Intermune (the market authorisation holder) and has confirmed that it will be in a position to commence reimbursement from...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I am advised by the HSE that people can apply for a medical card in the months leading up to their seventieth birthday. The application will be assessed under the National Income Guidelines for Over 70’s and will be put on hold until the day of their seventieth birthday. On this day the client will be notified of the outcome of this assessment. The length of time that it takes for a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Eligibility (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: As the Deputy's question relates to a service matter, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Maternity Benefit Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available. However, I have asked the Health Service Executive to supply this information to me and I will forward it to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Appeals (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Expenditure (3 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Finglas has been identified as a high priority location for the development of a primary care centre (PCC). Approval for a HSE direct-build PCC was approved in 2012 in the context of the HSE's multi-annual Capital Plan. Following the review of a number of sites in the area, the HSE identified a Dublin City Council owned property on Mellowes Road, Finglas as the preferred site for the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I am not 100% sure that I understand entirely what is being advocated in respect of an order to be made to add an institution. There is at this time no proposal to add an institution; therefore, no regulations are contemplated, as I understand it, to add a hospital. Is the Deputy proposing an amendment to section 3 to provide that were the Minister to propose to add an institution, the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: There is no definition of "best medical practice". I do not think there could be such a definition.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It might help the Deputy to note that there is a reference in the Bill to "medical speciality".

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It is in the definitions section. It relates to the various doctors who are required to make the certification. The definition of "medical speciality" is the fourth or fifth one on the page.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Bill defines "medical speciality" as "a medical speciality recognised by the Medical Council under section 89 of the Act of 2007". There is a reference to a medical speciality that is supervised or ruled by the Medical Council in order to ensure some sort of freelance individual cannot-----

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I have forgotten the point I was going to make in response to Deputy Mulherin, but I think this serves as an answer. We have to make a presumption - in good faith, if I can use that term - of best medical practice on the part of doctors. I remember now that I intended to reply to Deputy Mulherin's rhetorical question about whether the decisions of psychiatrists will be governed by their...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I reiterate that we have discussed the issue of certainty. We all recognise that it is very difficult to attain certainty in practically any part of this area of discussion. We want to strive for and to achieve it as best we can. I agree with Deputy Mulherin that there is an element of subjectivity in the notion of good faith. It has a high measure of subjectivity in the sense that one...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I thank the Minister for asking me to define "in good faith".

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: To some extent, it is a term of argument, but it is probably a term we all understand. We talk about people having bona fides, meaning they are not doing something for an improper reason or motive, or in a way that means they are stepping outside their professional competence and application to what they do. We often use the term "in good faith" if something was said in good faith. I...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Looking at it legally, it literally begs the question as to what "best medical practice" is in any given situation. The default position must be a presumption by legislators that medical people will act professionally. That must be the default position, rather than the opposite. If we put in "best medical practice", it would be incumbent on us to go further and then start engaging in...