Results 18,001-18,020 of 18,645 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Order for Report Stage (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, line 4, to delete "13" and substitute "10". Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 11 are technical drafting amendments arising primarily from the insertion of three new sections on Committee Stage to correct cross-references to sections in the Bill. Amendment No. 10 is a technical drafting amendment providing consistency on the use of tense.

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, line 6, to delete "19" and substitute "16".

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, to delete lines 23 to 37 and substitute the following: 3.—Section 2(1) of the Act of 1994 is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following definition: "'Act of 2001' means the Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2001;", (b) in the definition of "health insurance contract" (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 2001), by the substitution of the following...

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: This amendment is to facilitate international health insurance contracts and ensure they will not be subject to regulatory framework. Regarding the reference to persons not ordinarily resident in the State, the word "domiciled" will be removed.

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, to delete lines 5 to 13 and substitute the following: ""(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a health insurance contract— (a) where, and without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of 'health insurance contract' (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 2001) in section 2(1), such a contract, either of itself or as construed...

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, to delete lines 14 to 22 and substitute the following: 5.—Section 12 (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2001) of the Act of 1994 is amended, in subsection (2), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c): "(c) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of 'health insurance contract' (inserted by...

Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I thank Deputies Jan O'Sullivan, Flanagan and Ó Caoláin for their contributions. This Bill has no provisions that direct the VHI towards becoming involved in co-located hospitals. I understand Deputy Jan O'Sullivan had the opportunity, with Deputy Reilly, to speak at length on this issue on Committee Stage, at which point the amendment was opposed on the basis that it would impose an...

Written Answers — Constitutional Amendments: Constitutional Amendments (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: As the Deputy is aware, the Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2007, was published in February 2007 and contained the Government's proposal to amend the Constitution in relation to children. The Programme for Government of June 2007 committed to deepening consensus on the issue and to this end, the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children [JCCAC] was...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP) under which the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) is being implemented. The main supports the Government makes available to parents to assist them with their childcare costs are Child Benefit and the Early Childcare Supplement. The latter payment is the...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Health Service Staff. (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: The Government has invested heavily in the education and training of health care personnel in order to secure a good supply of graduates to provide for the health care needs of the population into the future. Since the establishment of the Health Service Executive, the number of speech and language therapists has increased by 215 to 712, an increase of 43%, and the number of occupational...

Health Service Staff. (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I take the points made by Deputy Jan O'Sullivan although I do not have the statistics for her own city and county.

Health Service Staff. (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I will pursue the specific issues raised by the Deputy and come back to her in writing very shortly. On child and adolescent mental health, the Health Service Executive will establish eight child and adolescent mental health teams during this year. An important lesson learned from the activities of the HSE during the course of 2007 is the fact that there is a need to monitor employment...

Health Service Staff. (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: At present the Department and the Government are determined to ensure we come to the position where services are equal and adequate. Over the years, the Deputy would have made the call, as I would have, from different sides of the House to train more people in different disciplines.

Health Service Staff. (5 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am fully aware of the need for early intervention in instances where children need particular assistance. As Deputy Jan O'Sullivan knows, Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 will be commenced in respect of children aged five to 18 in tandem with the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, commonly known as EPSEN. Representatives of the Department of...

Written Answers — Children in Care: Children in Care (4 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (4 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the National Child Care Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP) which, together with the earlier Equal Opportunities Child care Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP), are implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. The main supports the Government makes available to parents to assist them with their child care costs are Child Benefit and...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (4 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: The introduction of a State funded, nationwide pre-school system for all children is a matter on which I have not had specific discussions with the Minister for Education and Science and, as far as I am aware, there are no proposals at present to introduce such a system. As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the National Child Care Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which...

Written Answers — Youth Services: Youth Services (4 Mar 2008)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 to 301, inclusive, together. The launch of the National Recreation Policy last September highlighted Government's commitment to the development of youth cafés. As the Deputy will be aware there are already a number of youth cafés in operation around the country. Funding for these existing initiatives such as the Base is provided through a number of...