Results 21,881-21,900 of 46,197 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (18 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual. The National...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: Last week, I published the report of the scoping inquiry into the CervicalCheck programme and today I welcome the opportunity to speak about the issues at its very core. I want to acknowledge again on the record of this House the extraordinary contribution of Vicky Phelan as well as Stephen Teap and Lorraine Walsh and the other women and families impacted by the CervicalCheck audit. Dr....

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I would like to know, too.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: It is a recommendation of the Scally report.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: That is what the report states.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: It is.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: The allocation of time was not my decision.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I did not say that.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I did not say that.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: That is fine.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I will be as quick as I can so we can have as many questions as possible. In response to Deputy Healy's point about ministerial responsibility, the Scally report is very clear that I did not know so while I did not cause this problem, I have a responsibility in the office I hold to fix it and to make sure the recommendations are implemented in full. That is what I want to do. This is a...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I, too, would like to build capacity in Ireland, but outsourcing is not at the heart of this scandal. We cannot say that and allow it to hang there such that women would have a doubt. Dr. Scally who, frankly, knows a hell of a lot more than the Deputy or I do reviewed 12,800 documents. He and his team visited the laboratories and interviewed all of the key people. They - four doctors, a...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: Yes. Therefore, outsourcing is not at the heart of this scandal. We can have ideological debates all day long about outsourcing, but the source of the scandal is non-disclosure of personal information - women's information - that was withheld from them. Lt us be clear that that is the scandal. On open disclosure, yes, we need legal changes. Deputy Róisín Shortall is entirely...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I have heard the Deputy make this point a number of times and accept that he makes it from the point of view of wanting to achieve good and stand by the people who have been impacted on. My understanding is that Dr. Scally first made the decision about how best to brief those who had been impacted on, as was appropriate, given that it was an independent process. He took the view, which I...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: My priority is the continuance of the service. Some of the comments made in this House make that harder. The laboratories we are using today are safe.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I would appreciate it if the Deputy said that the next time she speaks. The laboratories we are using today are safe. That is what Dr. Scally found. On what happened pre-2012, he did not find that they were not safe but said he would like to do more work. Whether, contractually, they had the right to use that laboratory, he believes not. He should and will investigate that matter.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: Deputy Bríd Smith is very interested in this issue. She has read the report and seen what Dr. Scally said about the laboratories we have used in the past, yet she is trying to create a cloud of doubt for an ideological reason.

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is correct that they are not. He did say that. I was misinformed in the past. However, there are women watching this debate. He is not suggesting those laboratories are in any way inferior from a safety or quality point of view. That is what the report states and that is what he said. If the Deputy had met him, that is what he would have said to her. As we move to HPV...

Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme: Statements (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Harris: I have never been accused of having a paternalistic attitude just because I am a man. I am the Minister for Health and have a duty to tell people who rely on me the fact that the laboratories are safe today. With regard to the leak, the Taoiseach has said he is going to investigate it and I hope he will do so. As the Deputy knows, it is often not possible to find out how these things...