Results 7,481-7,500 of 12,077 for speaker:Mary Butler

Written Answers — Department of Health: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (5 May 2021)

Mary Butler: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care of the Elderly (5 May 2021)

Mary Butler: The Minister for Health and I met with representatives from St Joseph’s on Friday 22nd January. Following this meeting, St Joseph’s has raised further concerns about the ongoing operations of the service. As Ministers, we must have regard to the legislative and policy framework regarding the funding of private and voluntary nursing homes, including the statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services (5 May 2021)

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.

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I ask the Deputy to clarify to which report she is referring. I missed that line.

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for that clarification and for raising the matter. I will meet the expert panel this afternoon. It was an absolute game-changer. We have the support of Nursing Homes Ireland. There are 575 nursing homes and they are all buying into this. We received short, medium and long-term recommendations and we took all 86 of them on board. The short-term recommendations have...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank Members for their valuable contributions and will reflect closely on all statements relating to mental health and older people. Many of the issues highlighted are already being addressed through programme for Government commitments, our national policies and strategies and the HSE national service plan. We have achieved much in recent years through new developments and improvements...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank Deputy Dillon for raising this issue. The proposal to establish a cross-governmental Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Project with participation from the Departments of Health; Education; and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth received ministerial approval during the previous Government. The Department of Health has engaged extensively with the Department of Public...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy very much for those kind comments. I am very much aware of the outbreak in the school in Youghal. As we all know, this can be very traumatic for the pupils and staff alike. The Deputy is correct that a walk-in centre will be facilitated. I am not sure of the exact details of where it will be but I will revert to the Deputy in writing on that point. We have seen these...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: In answering the Deputy, some of those questions fall under the remit of the senior Minister, Deputy Donnelly. My remit is more for older people and mental health. As to the over 60-year-old people, as the Deputy is aware, this was changed again yesterday or the day before. Now, for example, anybody over 50 years of age will be able to receive AstraZeneca or the new Janssen vaccine that...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: Can I have a few minutes to respond?

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: Unfortunately, the Deputies are asking many questions and I will have no time to respond.

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I wish to make a point of order. We are dealing with Dáil statements on the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and older people. That is what is happening today.

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: The Deputy raises a valid point. I have a 23-year-old daughter who has been working from the bedroom for the past 14 months. She is looking forward to getting back into the workplace. On the issue of students, last October I put in place a leaflet outlining all of these supports that are specifically there for young people in second and third level so that they are aware that there are...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank Deputies for raising these issues relating to older people and mental health supports. The HSE has a range of proactive responses to any rise in service need, including online and other telehealth and psychosocial supports. In January 2021, we put in place a psychosocial framework for mental health promotion. The main thing we have to do is make sure older people, especially, know...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: As the Deputy knows, I cannot comment on any individual case. If he sends the details to my office, we certainly will look at them. A similar case, which had got newspaper headlines, was raised by another Deputy last week. However, the Deputy did not send me the details. It is very difficult to answer questions in the Chamber about such critical cases, where young people need support for...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: The Deputy indicated that the details may have arrived in my office today. We certainly will look into the matter. It is important to note that decisions on all such issues are not political. They will always be made from a clinical and medical perspective.

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for his comments. He is correct that our older people have proven to be very resilient and that they have done everything asked of them. We are concerned about older people who, restrictions aside, are not in a position to leave their homes and are housebound or bed bound. In response, an additional 5 million home care support hours has been put in place this year to...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I will respond as briefly as I can. With regard to the housebound, the figures provided are the same as those I was given last week. The reason there have been more referrals than the Deputy had heard about three weeks ago is that we left it open to GPs to continue referring people. I assume that some older people initially decided that they did not want the vaccine but later decided that...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank all three Deputies for their constructive approach. To refer back to Deputy Murnane O'Connor's comments, although all three Deputies raised their concerns about older people and day care centres, I am particularly anxious to see the likes of the men's sheds, women's groups and active retirement groups back open. We are actively looking at that at the moment. I met with Seán...

Covid-19, Mental Health and Older People: Statements (29 Apr 2021)

Mary Butler: I thank Deputy Patricia Ryan for her continued interest in older people. On the first question, on mental health supports for older people, there are 1,000 mental health organisations throughout the country. We work closely with many such NGOs and fund them to provide supports for us. Nevertheless, it will always be the case that funding is made available at different times. We have to...