Results 20,941-20,960 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Hospital Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: It is expected the review will be completed in the summer and to a large extent it will be a precursor to what the Deputy terms a public inquiry. There will be enormous reluctance to engage in a public inquiry or indeed even an inquiry under the Commissions of Investigation Act, unless this is warranted. That is precisely what the Mr. Justice Smyth has been asked to do - and in that regard...
- Cancer Screening Programme. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I have always accepted the consensus view of the relevant expert bodies that the introduction of a universal high uptake vaccination programme in young girls, in conjunction with population based cervical screening, could significantly reduce overall cervical cancer incidence. The issue was not, therefore, whether the case for a cervical cancer vaccination programme was accepted by myself...
- Cancer Screening Programme. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I am sure it would be highly inappropriate for Deputy Reilly to use question time to advance any personal interests.
- Cancer Screening Programme. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: It was never intended to do a catch-up and one must begin a new programme somewhere. That has been the case in most countries, especially those that have had a country-wide programme. I accept that is not the case everywhere but it has been the case in most places. One must begin somewhere. At the time we accepted the HIQA report and made a decision to proceed with the vaccine we had...
- Cancer Screening Programme. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I thank Deputies for their generous comments. We will be proactive in the first instance with parents because we are vaccinating minors and parents must give their permission. This programme is currently being worked on by the HSE and will be announced shortly. We wish to start the vaccination programme before the summer because individuals must receive three doses during this calendar...
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: Garda vetting is a pre-employment check carried out if a prospective employee, volunteer or student on placement will have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. Garda vetting provides for the disclosure by the Garda central vetting unit to the prospective employer of details of prosecutions and convictions of the candidate. It is a matter for the employer to assess the...
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I cannot provide a date for the legislation because it is subject to the all-party committee. The heads have not yet come before the Government but I understand it is imminent. I will revert to the Deputy on this matter because I am uncertain. In the first instance, the vetting relates to all new employees including students on placement, volunteers working in the area and people who are...
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, can answer that when replying to the next question.
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I agree with Deputy Reilly that appropriate vetting is important, irrespective of whether one's employer is in the public or private sector. One issue that arises in the health area is the great number of staff who have come from overseas to work in Ireland. The Garda must work in conjunction with Interpol to vet them and this can often take some time. I am satisfied there has been vetting...
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I will be happy to do that although I know the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is really committed in this area. He is very anxious to have the matter dealt with as quickly as possible. We all know those who are likely to abuse children have a habit of infiltrating places where children congregate, including swimming clubs and sports clubs. There were some very high-profile...
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: In case there is any misunderstanding, I must state that is of course the case. The vast majority, 99%, of those involved in sports organisations, including swimming organisations, are involved for the right reason. The vast majority of incidents of abuse occur in the home. We need stronger legislation to allow for the exchange of soft information without fear of prosecution.
- Health Service Staff. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: No, but the process takes longer. The Garda, through Interpol, contacts its counterparts in other countries on the issue.
- Substance Misuse. (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: That is why they are smoking.
- Written Answers — Medicinal Products: Medicinal Products (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: The Government has approved my proposal to introduce a system of reference pricing combined with generic substitution under the GMS and community drugs schemes. Reference pricing involves setting a common reimbursement price for groups of substitutable drugs. This will promote price competition in the Irish market and deliver ongoing savings for both the State and for patients. A working...
- Written Answers — Organ Transplants: Organ Transplants (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 30 and 75 together. Heart and lung transplantation operations take place in the Mater Hospital Dublin. Eleven heart transplantation procedures were carried out in 2009; this compares with 4 heart transplants in 2008. Five lung transplantation procedures were carried out in 2009; this compares with 4 lung transplants in 2008. In relation to other organ...
- Written Answers — Health Service Plan: Health Service Plan (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 61 together. I approved the HSE National Service Plan 2010 on 5 February. In approving the Plan, I highlighted to the HSE the need to deliver, at a minimum, the levels of service set out in the Plan as well as operating within the limits of its Voted allocation of â¬14.069bn. The Plan commits the HSE to delivering activity levels for 2010 which are...
- Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: Approximately 77 million laboratory tests are undertaken annually across 44 public hospitals. At present the annual cost of this service is approximately â¬470 million. The workload comprises both urgent and non-urgent tests and a significant proportion of the activity originates in the primary care setting. An external review of laboratory services was conducted for the HSE by Teamwork...
- Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: Following the Supreme Court decision of July 2008, which found the Irish Risk Equalisation Scheme to be ultra vires,the Government decided to introduce an interim scheme of loss compensation. This was provided for under the Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, covering the period 2009 to early 2012. In any community rated health insurance market, a comprehensive risk...
- Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 22 together. A small number of Emergency Departments have been recording high numbers of patients waiting to be admitted to hospital in recent weeks. However, detailed sampling from 24 hospitals, which began in February last year, to the end of December indicate that 87% of all patients attending an ED were either discharged or admitted within the...
- Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (11 Feb 2010)
Mary Harney: My Department has not commissioned any specific reports or studies to examine the long term health consequences, if any, of the decision by my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, to curtail entitlements under the Treatments Benefits Schemes.