Results 20,821-20,840 of 46,095 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Harty for his question. I acknowledge the contribution made by health contractors through reductions in their fees to addressing the unprecedented economic crisis faced by the State when successive Governments, prior to and after 2011, found it necessary, in the interests of the financial crisis facing the State, to make reductions to public sector pay and to fees. I want to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I recognise the challenges and, more importantly, so does the Government. That is why we have taken a number of steps to try to address the issue of manpower and woman-power in terms of the number of general practitioners in the country. That is why we have significantly increased the number of training places. In 2009, there were 120 GP training places available....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I have to wear all three hats in that regard. We have to pay a fair fee for a fair service. We need to negotiate the fee and the service-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: -----and that engagement is getting under way.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: That might be a fine speech but it does not tally with the reality. The Government and I have taken a number of actions to reform the health service, and to try to turn around what is a major tanker and get it to a place where we can reform it. We supported the establishment of an all-party committee and people on the Government benches worked extremely hard to come up with a cross-party...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Lahart for raising this important matter. He has highlighted an issue that we need to get on top of and I think I have some news in that regard today. Improving waiting times for hospital procedures and outpatient appointments is a key commitment in the programme for Government and a key priority of mine. As the Deputy is aware, we increased the National Treatment Purchase...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I like to think that I am one of the less partisan individuals here. I acknowledge that that was a key demand of the Fianna Fáil Party in establishing this minority Government. If the Deputy searches the Dáil record, I think I have acknowledged that in many questions here. I point out that in the realpolitik world, my predecessors in 2011 would have found it difficult to find any...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: My predecessors, when they came to Government, during the greatest financial crash, had to make horrifically difficult decisions, as did Fianna Fáil when in government, with regard to how to spend money and invest in services. I agree that the NTPF works. While the Deputy is not suggesting it, it should not be about just putting money into private hospitals. Deputy Louise O'Reilly and...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centres Data (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: The development of primary care centres supports the shift from acute care to primary care. This is a key priority for the Government and accords with the vision of a reformed health service set out in the Sláintecare cross-party report. These modern facilities provide a setting in which a wide range of health professionals can deliver better care, closer to people's homes in their...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centres Data (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I did not say that we are not counting the numbers. Rather, I said the figures are not compiled centrally. The Deputy wanted to know about each individual primary care centre. As she knows from her time as a Member and her previous life, the staff working in primary care centres are not employees of individual primary care centres. Many of them work across areas. Many of them work in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: The Report of the Trauma Steering Group – A Trauma System for Ireland was approved by Government on the 6th February 2018 and published online.   In an inclusive Trauma System, as recommended for Ireland by the Trauma Steering Group, the trauma care pathway is not organised around individual institutions but in the context of networked ones whereby all acute hospitals...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: Following an independent review of the need for a second cath lab in University Hospital Waterford, the Herity report concluded that the needs of the effective catchment population for Waterford University Hospital could be accommodated within a single cath lab. Funding has been provided to support extension of the existing cath lab operating hours to 12 weekly sessions per week, or by 20%,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists Action Plans (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: Improving waiting times for hospital procedures and outpatient appointments is a key commitment in the Programme for Government.  In Budget 2018 the NTPF budget was increased to €50 million. The priority for this funding is reducing waiting time for hospital procedures, and the Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan 2018, published in April, targets a reduction in the number of patients...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Groups (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: The Reports The Establishment of Hospital Groups as a transition to Independent Hospital Trusts (DoH, 2013) and Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals: A Framework for Development  (HSE, 2013) provided the foundations for the reorganisation of hospital services into Hospital Groups. The goal of this reform is to develop a world class person-centred hospital service that values and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Air Ambulance Service (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: In late 2016 the Department of Defence informed my Department that due to a shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers, the Air Corps would not be able to sustain the level of service previously provided for the transfer of Priority One paediatric transplant patients to the UK.  This was compounded when, following a review, the Irish Aviation Authority indicated that all patient...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Abortion Services Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: The Thirty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 seeks to delete Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution and substitute it with wording confirming that the Oireachtas may make laws for the regulation of the termination of pregnancy. The Bill passed all stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas on 28 March 2018. A Polling Day Order for a referendum was held on 25 May 2018. A certificate with...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Pharmacy Services (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: I wish to acknowledge the vital role that pharmacies play in their communities.  In that regard, the Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to expand the role of community pharmacy in managing patient health, and this is an issue I intend to progress. Work has been done in recent years on wider healthcare roles for pharmacies, including the Pharmaceutical...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists Action Plans (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: Improving waiting times for hospital procedures and outpatient appointments is a key commitment in the Programme for Government. My Department, the HSE and the NTPF are in the process of finalising an Outpatient Action Plan for 2018. This plan will support the HSE’s compliance with its National Service Plan targets, reduce the growth in the number of patients waiting for outpatient...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Screening Programmes (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: Currently, the testing of cervical smear tests is carried out by the following three institutions: - Quest Diagnostics Inc, Teterboro, New Jersey USA; - MedLab Pathology Ltd, Dublin (US company); and - Coombe Women and Infant’s University Hospital, Dublin.  Approximately 50% of the testing is done in Ireland, with the remaining 50% being done outside Ireland. Currently,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dietician Service Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Simon Harris: The ketogenic diet is used in the treatment of intractable epilepsy (as per NICE Guidance Ketogenic Diet and other Dietary Treatments for Epilepsy 2016) and metabolic disorders including glutathione 1 deficiency. This is a highly specialised service at Cork University Hospital, requiring specific training and experience, and currently provided to a small number of patients. ...